Putin just gave away how afraid he is of the Russian people rising up against him
On one day this week alone, more than four thousand protesters were reportedly arrested in Russia. It’s becoming clear that more and more Russian people are so sick of Vladimir Putin, they’re taking to the streets in opposition to him. Now Putin is giving away that he’s afraid of additional uprisings.
Putin announced on Russian television on Tuesday that no additional draftees or reservist call-ups will be sent to fight in Ukraine. Maybe he’s telling the truth or maybe he’s lying; that remains to be seen. Either way, what stands out here is that Putin felt compelled to try to placate the Russian people by claiming that even more of them won’t be dragged into participating in the unwanted conflict.
Meanwhile the U.S. government says that Putin is now reduced to begging Syria to send troops to help him fight in Ukraine. This comes days after Putin tried and failed to get Kazakhstan to send troops to Ukraine.
This comes amid reports that of all the Russian troops that Putin amassed on the border, he’s now sent 95% of them into combat in Ukraine – and it’s not enough manpower to get the job done. Putin clearly needs more troops, yet he appears to be afraid of calling up any more Russians into the army as reinforcements in Ukraine, for fear of igniting further unrest at home.
It’s difficult to imagine any world leader, let alone the leader of a supposed superpower, sending his depleted army to invade another country – and when that invasion flops, calling up his significantly smaller allies and asking if anyone has an army to spare. That’s cartoon level absurdity. Yet this is what’s really happening right now with Vladimir Putin.
