Passing Russian troops near Kharkiv can be a fracture in the war - British expert

David Patriakarakos, the British military observer, considers the retreat of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region a catastrophe for Russian President Vladimir Putin, since even his associates are unable to present these events in some positive light. About it reports The Daily Mail. The Russian warlords acknowledged that their troops retreated from three key cities in Kharkiv region - Balakliy, Izium and Kupyansk.

A few months ago, such statements of politicians on Russian television could not be imagined. Russian politician Boris Nadezhdin stated that the people who spoke Putin that the Ukrainians were ready to surrender were seriously mistaken. In his opinion, peace talks are the only way out. However, statements such as the rest, which sounds in the Kremlin media, should not be taken for a clean coin. David Patriakarakos suggests that the Kremlin is testing public opinion.

Let it be there, negotiations with Ukraine in the Russian Federation are seriously discussed. Even the army of online trolls writes about it, which publishes propaganda in chats and online forums. All this can indicate that there is a fracture in Ukraine. Sitting in his bunker, Putin, in view of everything, feels pressure, he realizes that those modest achievements of the Russian army in half a year of the war were very expensive to him.

He is unlikely to imagine what losses the Armed Forces would face. According to the Pentagon, of the 200,000 servicemen with whom the Kremlin was preparing a large -scale invasion in February, about 80,000 killed or injured. Instead of going to the front march in Kiev, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers went home in bags for corpses or on stretchers. To thousands of dead can be added those who have deserted and refused to participate in the war.

In the White House, such a scenario of events is seriously considered, since all Russian military exercises, within which the invasion of the Baltic countries was worked out, there was also a nuclear strike. However, David Patriakarakos considers this option unlikely. Putin is a dictator, but at the same time he is a pragmatist and realizes that the first use of nuclear weapons since 1945 is a red border.

The consequences of even limited "tactical nuclear strike" are likely to affect the neighboring countries with Ukraine, possibly Poland and the Baltic countries that are part of NATO. Yes, the Alliance will have no choice as soon as they resort to a military response and start the third world. Recall that, according to the American general, Putin is on the verge of despair and can resort to a nuclear blow. The Russian president feels pressure to do something radical.