Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) receives a report from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (second left) at the Kremlin in Moscow on the 27th of last month. Moscow = Associated Press
U.S. moves to shake up Russian President Vladimir Putin. Briefings have emerged from the White House, the Pentagon, and intelligence agencies that President Putin is not properly reporting on the situation of the Russian economy due to the situation of the war in Ukraine and sanctions. Information regarding the Russian military deployed in Ukraine was also disclosed one following another, along with a warning message that the United States was looking into Russia in the palm of its hand.
White House press secretary Kate Bedingfield said at a briefing on the 30th (local time) that “we have information that we feel is misleading by the Russian military.” “I think Putin is misinformed regarding how badly the Russian military is performing on the battlefield and how serious the Russian economy is with sanctions because Putin’s aides are so afraid of telling him the truth,” he said.
Earlier, CNN and The Washington Post (WP) cited an anonymous US official, saying, “There is information that Putin did not even know that the Russian army was sending conscripts to Ukraine to sacrifice them. It shows that there is a clear handicap.” It is said that Putin recently learned that the information he had received was false, which caused him to quarrel with high-ranking officials of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
From the perspective of President Putin, he will have distrust of high-ranking officials in the Russian military, and if he changes his staff, it might lead to self-destruction. This is why the interpretation of the US calculated information disclosure is coming out.
U.S. Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby takes a question from reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on the 30th. Washington = AP News
The status of the movement and redeployment of Russian troops continues to be disclosed from the U.S. side. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing today that Russia has begun redeploying regarding 20 percent of the troops deployed around Kiiu.
“Russia will repair and resupply this unit’s equipment and possibly deploy it elsewhere in Ukraine,” he said. It is an evaluation of the US that the reduction in military activity near Kiiu, which Russia insists on, appears to be a redeployment for a new offensive rather than a withdrawal from mainland Russia. It is also a demonstration of the US’s ability to check Russia’s deceptive tactics and deployment status in real time.
Kirby also said Russia had deployed regarding 1,000 members of the Wagner Group, a civilian mercenary group, in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. The Wagner Group, known to have been founded by former special forces affiliated with the Russian military intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Administration (GRU), is a private enterprise that mobilizes mercenaries for Russia in overseas conflict zones. It is also known that he was active during Russia’s forcible annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Washington = Jeong Sang-won correspondent ornot@hankookilbo.com
