The calls of "L/DNR" fighters for immediate annexation against the background of the Armed Forces are put Putin in the pathoric situation: Map of hostilities and ISW assessments

Its experts analyzed the calls of the leaders of terrorist organizations "LNR" and "DNR" immediately to hold referendums on recognition of occupied Ukrainian territories in part of the Russian Federation. Video of the day ISW believes that such a step "suggests that the continuation of the Armed Forces counter -offensive in the north of Ukraine causes panic in the puppet forces and some of the persons who make decisions in the Kremlin.

" Institute analysts remind that Russia has not been able to capture and control most of the Donetsk region. At the same time, Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan enthusiastically commented on the calls of fighters. "L/DNR", calling them a "Crimean scenario". She stated that after the annexation of the occupied territories of Ukraine, it would be easier to threaten NATO by blows in response to Ukrainian counterattacks and that it would "unleash Russia.

" However, this approach is inconsistent, the ISW experts emphasize. The strikes of Ukraine in the annexed Crimea have already demonstrated that such attacks in the territory of illegally annexed Russia do not cause automatic "retribution" of the Russian Federation against NATO, as Simonian wants to convince his audience.

In addition, the hypothetical immediate annexation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions would lead to the Russian Federation "its" also those areas of Donbass, which are controlled by the legal Ukrainian authorities and forces of the Armed Forces. This means that the Kremlin would be in dubious and even humiliating situations, as it would not be able to ensure its control over new annexed territories.

"It remains unclear whether Vladimir Putin is ready to put himself in such a difficult position for the sake of dubious benefit that it will be easier for NATO or Ukraine to escalation, which he is unlikely to carry out at this stage," the ISW analysts say. They also remind that in the Russian Federation are likely to exhaust ways to try to stop the Ukrainian forces that move across the Oskil River in the Luhansk region.

The Kremlin may consider that partial hasty annexation will allow to recruit additional forces both within Russia and within the annexed territory of Ukraine. Last. Sometimes the Russian Federation "desperately tried to mobilize additional forces from all possible sources to replenish its strongly weakened and demoralized units, but it was unable to create considerable combat power.

" Isw also notes that in a new wave, Russian propaganda discussions about annexation are no longer mentioned including Russian -occupied south of Ukraine, where the Kremlin also planned to hold fixes INI referendums on annexation. Similar willingness to abandon the plans of simultaneous annexation of all occupied territories would be perceived as a serious retreat of Putin in the environment of the guided Russian groups, "with which he seems to be playing", experts of ISW state.

"It remains to see if it is ready to compromise itself in the inner arena," they write. Analysts also remind that at times the puppets of Moscow in the Donbass in their statements are ahead of the Kremlin's messages and may have done so again, trying to preserve the occupied territory "against the background of successful and continuation of the counter -offensive of Ukraine".

Meanwhile, the recent successes of the Armed Forces counter -offensive are further reducing the already low moral spirit of even those Russian units that were considered elite by February 24. The independent Belarusian media, WTO published a photo of the intercepted documents left by Russian servicemen of the 31135 part of the 1st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Guards Motorial Division at a mass escape from Izium.

These documents (dated August 30, on the eve of the Counter -offensive of the Armed Forces in Kharkiv Oblast) are written requests from servicemen to the commanders of the part to be dismissed due to constant "physical and moral fatigue". According to Ukrainian intelligence, up to 90% of the personnel of the 1st Motorized Rifle Regiment wrote revealing complaints about the moral and combat condition on May 23, 2022.

At the same time, the 2nd Guards Rifle Division is mentioned-one of the three divisions of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Russian Federation, which was considered the main mechanized forces of Russia before the present war in Ukraine. It was this army that was to become Russia's key force in the hypothetical Great Bank War with NATO with the use of ordinary weapons.