Putin Supporters Enraged By Russian Retreat From Lyman

Two strong supporters of President Vladimir V. Putin turned on Russia’s military leadership on Saturday after the country ordered retreat from an important city in eastern Ukraine, A striking sign of dissent among the Russian elite comes as the Kremlin tries to build an image of strength and unity.

Ramzan Kadyrov, powerful leader of the republic of Chechnya, southern Russia, Written on the messaging app Telegram that Russia’s top military brass had “covered up” an “incompetent” general who should now “go to the front to wash away his shame”.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the business magnate close to Putin, who leads the Wagner Group – a mercenary army that fought for Russia during the war – grant a statement an hour later stated that he agreed with Mr. Kadyrov.

Prigozhin said in an apparent mention to Russia’s military leaders: “Send all these pieces of trash barefoot with the machine gun straight ahead.

The Kremlin’s military leadership, which includes Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu, a close associate of Putin, has come under increasing criticism in recent months from some bloggers. Russia’s war supporters, who see them as corrupt officials who have failed as military strategists. That criticism has expanded after Russia’s dramatic retreat in northeastern Ukraine last month.

But the anger Saturday after Russia lost the city of Lyman, an important railway hub, was extraordinary both in its timing and in the fact that it came not just from social media commentators, but from senior Putin allies.

It highlights that the withdrawal is a major embarrassment for the Kremlin, which comes just 24 hours after the festival in Moscow over Putin’s attempt to annex four Ukrainian regions that Western officials consider illegitimate. France.

The city of Lyman in the Donetsk region is part of the annexed territory that Putin describes in his speech on Friday known as “Novorossiya” or New Russia, considering it part of the historical center of the country. The withdrawal of his troops there just a day later shocked pro-war Russian commentators, who interpreted the retreat as a sign of his eloquent and belligerent rhetoric. their government does not match reality.

As news of an impending move in Lyman spread on social media, Yegor Kholmogorov, a nationalist expert, wrote on Telegram that “any withdrawal will be like an omen. bad in light of yesterday’s events in Moscow.”

After Russia confirmed the withdrawal, Yevgeny Primakov, the head of the government agency that manages relations with Russians abroad, wrote on Telegram that “we have given a Russian city to the enemy.” for the first time since World War II.

But it is the public criticisms of Mr. Kadyrov and Mr. Prigozhin – both of whom have become influential figures in the Russian war effort operating independently of the Ministry of Defense – that are most significant. It suggests that Mr. Putin will now face more pressure from his internal hawks to escalate the war.

One concern in the West is that Mr. Putin might decide to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, a possibility he has alluded to.

American officials came up with the scenarioWhether Mr Putin should decide to use tactical nuclear weapons to make up for the recent defeats of the Russian military in Ukraine – and has issued stark warnings to the Russian leader about the aftermath dire consequences of such action.

In Saturday’s post, Mr. Kadyrov became one of the first Russian officials to publicly call for the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

“I don’t know what the Russian Defense Ministry reports to the commander-in-chief,” Kadyrov wrote. “But in my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, including the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.”