Ukraine war: Putin is said to have ordered a stop to the Ukrainian counteroffensive

ISW report
Putin is said to have ordered the Ukrainian counteroffensive to stop by the beginning of October

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is making slow but steady progress. Vladimir Putin wants this to end soon – he has allegedly given his defense minister a corresponding ultimatum.

The second September of the war was not even halfway over As usual, aggressor Vladimir Putin announced that Ukraine was carrying out a “so-called counter-offensive,” but that it was “of course not” achieving any results. A few days later, Kiev’s troops liberated the important Robotyne, then broke through some Russian defense lines and reduced the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet to rubble. All remarkable successes that are likely to cause concern for the Kremlin – and may also be due to its unrealistic war goals.

“Improve the situation at the front”

According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) The Russian President is said to have ordered his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to “improve the situation at the front”, “stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive” and enable Russian forces to “launch an offensive against a major city” by the beginning of October .” The ISW relies on statements from a Kremlin insider on Telegram. The institute leaves it open how credible they are, but states that they would fit with the Russian army’s current approach.

Shoigu, a close confidant of Putin, is said to have promised to carry out the instructions immediately – even though his soldiers are currently having significant problems, as they have been throughout the course of the war. The ISW writes that the Defense Ministry has already “pursued unattainable military goals at the expense of the Russian armed forces” in the past. The reason is the “fear of losing Putin’s favor,” which is why negative but honest assessments are withheld.

Putin: Ill-informed or a liar?

The Moscow leadership repeatedly attracts public attention with sometimes drastic false statements. It is unclear whether Vladimir Putin or his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are poorly informed or whether they are simply lying for propaganda reasons. A few weeks ago, the Russian president claimed that his troops had destroyed 543 Ukrainian tanks and 18,000 armored vehicles since June. But that is significantly more than Ukraine says it ever had, reported the independent Russian portal “Medusa”.

In July, Major General Ivan Popov, commander of the 58th Army, was dismissed. According to his own statements, because he had clearly identified problems: a lack of artillery reconnaissance and combat, too many dead and injured. “For this reason, the commanders in chief apparently saw some kind of danger in me,” Popov said in a voice message.

Ukrainian soldier: “They won’t give up until they’re shot”

There are some indications that the ultimatum actually exists and that the Russian military command is ordering “relentless counterattacks, even if this entails high costs for military capabilities,” as the ISW report says. Ukrainian soldiers, for example, recently told the German news agency DPA how they experience the Russians’ actions: The enemy has very well-equipped units “that only give up when you shoot them,” as Roman, 24, from the 3rd Assault Brigade says. And: “We have observed how Russian Officers forced their men into fire even though the situation was hopeless and they could have surrendered.”

The current massive drone attacks on the larger cities of Odessa and Kherson, as well as an important railway connection, could also be an indication that the military leadership in Moscow is willing to follow the orders from the Kremlin without resistance. According to the ISW, these attacks, some of which were successful, “could be due to Putin’s micromanagement.”

Sources: “Institute for the Study of War”, DPA, Newsweek“The Independent“