Georgy Zakrevsky, founder of the Paladin private military company (PMC), launched a damning attack on Putin during a video on Telegram in which he blamed all the military failures in Ukraine on Putin personally and accused the Russian president of causing all of the country's economic and social problems.
"Our country is not just on the brink of disaster or already right next to it, our country is already in trouble, in big trouble," he said. "Drones are flying all over central Russia, right up to Moscow and St. Petersburg. They even attacked the Kremlin. Our Black Sea fleet is being pushed out. It's being pushed out as if we are not a great power with a great fleet, but some third-rate country."
He also argued that Moscow's aviation is practically not working because it is being pushed out. He also blamed Putin for the population that is dying out, becoming impoverished and spiraling to death.
"All they have time to do is bring in migrants. And all this was done by the so-called 'president' - 'The Great' Putin," he said.
Zakrevsky's PMC has around 300 members and has fought in wars around the world, including in Syria and Africa. Last year, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a stunning revolt against Putin, which didn't end well for the former.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces already control more than 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in the Kursk Oblast, according to Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Oreshkin told the news outlet Kyiv Independent that it is clear to the Russian people and the Kremlin that "things aren't going as well for Putin as he's trying to present it." (Related: NATO doubts Ukraine's ability to maintain control of Kursk amid fierce battles.)
Ukraine expresses intention to continue peace talks but not with Putin
The world watches as Kyiv continues with its aggressive offensive on Moscow, but Ukraine claims to still want to push through with the peace talks but not directly with the Russian leader.
According to a report on Politico, Ukraine would like to use a framework that could proceed even as the Kremlin refuses to send its diplomats to face-to-face meetings with a peace pact model taking inspiration from the July 2022 agreement that allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports out of the Black Sea.
Under that said format, Russia and Ukraine worked on separate agreements, overseen by the United Nations and Turkey as intermediaries, without a direct Moscow-Kyiv accord.
"In the Kursk region, we can see how the military tool is being used objectively to persuade [Russia] to enter a fair negotiation process," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier this month.
But Putin is not in the mood to talk.
"What kind of negotiations can we talk about with people who indiscriminately attack the civilian population, and civilian infrastructure, or try to create threats to nuclear power facilities? What can we even talk about with them?" Putin said.
The basis for what Ukraine wants is President Volodymyr Zelensky's 10-point plan drawn up in 2022. The format has now accelerated with Andriy Yermak, head of the president's office and Zelensky's main foreign policy official, telling European Pravda that 10 working groups were being set up to draw up action plans and timelines.
"We did not have negotiations with Russia. We had negotiations with Turkey and the UN, and they negotiated with Russia. It was a success," Yermak said. "The corridor operated for a year. There were a lot of problems, but it worked. We must acknowledge that. A similar format could be used again."
"Turkey, as always, is ready to facilitate the process," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in June. "We will not shy away from putting further efforts."
But Russia insisted that it would not attend the summit and called Ukraine's peace formula "completely unacceptable" for the Kremlin.
RussiaReport.news contains updates on the current situation in Russia.
Russia wiped out the elite NATO Brigade command staff about to enter Kursk. Watch this video.
This video is from the Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Ukraine's offensive in Kursk region is the first direct attack on Russia since WWII.
Russia declares federal emergency in Belgorod as Ukraine intensifies attacks on Kursk.
Analyst: Ukraine’s attack on Kursk IMPOSSIBLE without U.S. support.
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.
