Daily Archives: January 19, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Russian President Vladimir Putin.BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images; Contributor/Getty Images

Ukraine's president said he wasn't sure that Russia's President Putin was still alive.

Speaking at Davos, Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Russia was altering media purporting to show Putin.

Zelenskyy was talking about the possibility of a peace deal, and said Putin appeared absent from decision-making.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he wasn't sure if Russia's President Vladmir Putin was even still alive.

Asked at the World Economic Forum in Davos for his response to people who were asking for peace negotations to take place, Zelenskyy said that he wasn't sure who in Russia would be part of that conversation, or even if the Russian president was still alive.

He also suggested that Russia may have manipulated media of Putin.

"I don't quite understand that he is the guy," Zelenskyy said of Putin. "I don't quite understand that he is still alive, or that it is him particularly making decisions, or who is taking decisions there, who is the the circle of people making the decisions," he said, according to his translator.

Zelenskyy also said that: "I don't quite understand who to talk to and about what. I'm not sure that Russia's president, who sometimes appears against the chroma key is really him," according to the Kyiv Independent.

A chroma key is a video technique that can change parts of a video, including the background. The technique can be used to make someone appear as if they were in or speaking from a different location.

It's not clear if Zelenskyy was genuinely suggesting that Putin was dead, or was exaggerating in order to suggest that he no longer appeared to be involved in key decision-making.

Putin had been photographed in a number of public appearances over the last days, including at least four events on Wednesday. Photos from those events were shared by the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that they don't trust Russia to strike a peace deal in good faith, and that there could be no peace deal that didn't involve Ukraine getting all of its territory back.

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Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukraine had been trying to negotiate with Russia even before it launched its full-scale invasion in February, after Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014.

Russian and Ukrainian officials also met multiple times near the start of the war, but made no meaningful progress before those meetings were stopped.

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Zelenskyy said he's not sure Putin is still alive, as he seems absent ...

MOSCOW, Jan 19 (Reuters) - An ally of President Vladimir Putin warned NATO on Thursday that a defeat of Russia in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war, while the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said the world would end if the West tried to destroy Russia.

Such apocalyptic rhetoric is intended to deter the U.S.-led NATO military alliance from getting even more involved in the war, on the eve of a meeting of Ukraine's allies to discuss sending Kyiv more weapons.

But the explicit recognition that Russia might lose on the battlefield marked a rare moment of public doubt from a prominent member of Putin's inner circle.

"The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war," former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putin's powerful security council, said in a post on Telegram.

"Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends," said Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012.

Striking a similar tone at what he described as an anxious time for the country, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a sermon for Epiphany that trying to destroy Russia would mean the end of the world.

Medvedev said NATO and other defence leaders, due to meet at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday to talk about strategy and support for the West's attempt to defeat Russia in Ukraine, should think about the risks of their policy.

Putin casts Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine as an existential battle with an aggressive and arrogant West, and has said that Russia will use all available means to protect itself and its people.

The Kremlin chief has sought in recent months to gird Russians for a much tougher battle while promising eventual victory in a war that the leaders of the West say they will never let him win.

The United States has denied Russian claims that it wants to destroy Russia, while President Joe Biden has cautioned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could trigger World War Three.

But top Putin allies say the tens of billions of dollars' worth of U.S. and European military assistance to Ukraine shows that Russia is now in a confrontation with NATO itself - the Cold War nightmare of both Soviet and Western leaders.

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said in a sermon: "We pray to the Lord that he bring the madmen to reason and help them understand that any desire to destroy Russia will mean the end of the world."

"Today is an alarming time," state news agency RIA quoted him as saying. "But we believe that the Lord will not leave Russian land."

Putin's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters in Minsk that Russia would do everything to ensure NATO and European Union leaders "sobered up" as soon as possible.

"I hope that the sobering up will come," Lavrov said. "We will do everything so that our colleagues from NATO and the European Union sober up as soon as possible."

Russias Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The United States and its allies have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an imperial land grab, while Ukraine has vowed to fight until the last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Medvedev has repeatedly raised the threat of a nuclear war, but his admission now of the possibility of Russia's defeat indicates the level of Moscow's concern over increased Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

Russia and the United States, by far the largest nuclear powers, hold around 90% of the world's nuclear warheads.

Asked if Medvedev's remarks signified that Russia was escalating the crisis to a new level, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "No, it absolutely does not mean that."

He said Medvedev's remarks were in full accordance with Russia's nuclear doctrine which allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened".

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Felix Light in Tbilisi; Editing by Mark Trevelyan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Putin ally warns NATO of nuclear war if Russia is defeated in Ukraine ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin poses as he delivers a New Year's address to the nation at the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don on December 31, 2022.

Mikhail Klimentyev | Afp | Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin could be ready to announce another mobilization round, as Russia looks to bolster its armed forces in Ukraine, analysts believe.

"Putin may announce a second mobilization wave to expand his army in the coming days possibly as early as January 18," analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced Tuesday that Putin will deliver a speech in his hometown of St. Petersburg on Wednesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Soviet forces breaking the Nazi siege of Leningrad. This could be an apt date to announce such a mobilization, watchers noted.

"Putin is fond of using symbolic dates to address the Russian people, and some Russian pro-war milbloggers noted that he will seize this opportunity to either declare mobilization or war with Ukraine," the ISW said in their daily analysis of the Ukraine war.

Russia has repeatedly insisted that it would not embark on a second mobilization wave, following an initial partial draft of military reservists that called up 300,000 men last September. The move sparked consternation in Russia and prompted many of those eligible for the draft to flee the country.

Fears of another potential mobilization grew with the onset of winter. Putin said in December that he saw no need for a second draft, noting that half of the men called up had already been deployed in Ukraine, while the others were in training centers.

"Under these conditions, talk about any additional mobilization measures simply makes no sense," he said at the time.

Last Friday, Ukrainian Defense Ministry intelligence officials said that they believed that preparations for a second wave of mobilization were underway, suspecting Russia aims for an army of 2 million people.

"Military intelligence of Ukraine does not rule out that the leadership of Russia will announce another wave of mobilization in the coming days," intelligence officials said in a statement, adding that another 500,000 Russians will be called up in order to "create strategic reserves."

"Preparations for the announcement of the next wave of mobilization in Russia are already actively underway.At the legislative level, changes are being made to the laws of the Russian Federation that regulate mobilization.Active training of training centers is also underway," intelligence officials added.

Over winter, the war in Ukraine has resembled a conflict of attrition, particularly in eastern Ukraine where fighting has intensified around Bakhmut the next key Russian target after hostilities against nearby Soledar.

Daily losses from Ukrainian and Russian forces are difficult to ascertain independently.

Both sides are expected to renew counteroffensives in the spring, stoking expectations that Russia will call up further manpower.

A Ukrainian tank runs on a road near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on Dec. 2, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Anatolii Stepanov | AFP | Getty Images

Moscow has made no secret of looking to expand its forces in the next few years. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in December laid out proposals to increase military personnel to 1.5 million by 2026, from 1.1 million at present.

On Tuesday, Shoigu laid out more comprehensive plans to reform and restructure the army over the next few years, saying that "only by strengthening the key structural components of the Armed Forces is it possible to guarantee the military security of the state and protect new entities and critical facilities of the Russian Federation," Reuters reported.

Kremlin press secretary Peskov said later Tuesday that the changes were necessary because of the "proxy war" that the West is fighting against Russia in Ukraine.

The proxy engagement, he said, "includes elements of indirect participation in hostilities, and elements of economic, financial war, legal war, going beyond the legal field, and so on."

"The security of our country must be unconditionally ensured, and in this case the Ministry of Defense is fulfilling its role," Peskov said, in comments translated by NBC.

Peskov dismissed the idea of another mobilization, adding that the "topic is constantly artificially activated both from abroad and from within the country. I still suggest that you remember all the time the relevant statements that President Putin made on this matter."

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Putin could be ready to announce a second mobilization drive

Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, on November 29,2022.Contributor/Getty Images

The Kremlin started coming up with an evacuation plan for Putin in the spring, a former aide said.

It involves fleeing to Venezuela or Argentina, ex-speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov said.

Putin first considered a plan to evacuate to China but later rejected the idea, Gallyamov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a plan to flee to exile in South America if he loses the war in Ukraine, a former aide said on Tuesday.

The Kremlin began working on a backup plan, unofficially dubbed "Noah's Ark", in the spring said Abbas Gallyamov, a political consultant and ex-speechwriter to Putin,in a Telegram post.

Gallyamov cited unnamed insiders for his information. He has not worked for Putin since 2010 and is himself living in exile from Russia. He framed the evacuation as an extreme contingency plan.

Analysts do not generally anticipate Putin being forced from power, despite the heavy setbacks in the Ukraine invasion.

Former Western diplomats and government officials told Reuters in October that his grip on power remained firm. US officials in May told CNN that there was no immediate prospect of Putin being ousted.

The emergency plan involves "finding new lands where you can go if the homeland becomes completely uncomfortable," Gallyamov said.

"The leader's entourage does not exclude that he will lose the war, lose power and he will have to urgently evacuate somewhere," he added.

He also said that Putin first considered a plan to evacuate to China but later rejected the idea on the basis that the chances of "cooperation" from the Chinese would most likely be slim.

"The Chinese are too self-conscious and too contemptuous of others especially losers. Hope, as it has now become clear, is not enough for them," he wrote.

Argentina and Venezuela are now among the top two options for Putin to flee to, Gallyamov said, adding that Russian oligarch Igor Sechin has a good relationship with authoritarian Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro.

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Sechin, who is Putin's right-hand man, has been put in charge of the evacuation plan, Gallyamov said.

Insider was unable to independently verify these claims.

Gallyamov first worked in Putin's speech-writing team from 2000 to 2001, and then from 2008 to 2010. He has been living in exile in Israel since 2018.

He has regularly commented on the state of the war in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion on February 24.

Gallyamov's comments come amid ongoing reports that Moscow's forces continue to suffer battlefield defeats and lose territory to Ukrainian troops.

In a televised address on Wednesday, Putin admitted that it could be a very long war and also warned that the risk of nuclear war was growing.

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Putin has a plan to flee to South America if he loses the war in ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold his annual year-end press conference for the first time in a decade, prompting speculation that the Russian leader is sick or running scared from answering questions about Ukraine as the war enters its 10th month.

As for the big press conference, yes, it wont happen before the New Year, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.

But we hope that the president will still find an opportunity to talk with [journalists], as he regularly does, including during foreign [visits], Peskov added.

While Peskov gave no reason behind the move, the war in Ukraine and Russian troops having to make repeated retreats in recent weeks were likely both factors in choosing to break the tradition.

The move also draws attention to suspicions that Putins health is on the decline, especially following reports last week that he fell down the stairs and soiled himself.

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The marathon end-of-year press conference broadcast live on TV and often lasting upwards of four hours allows the Russian leader to polish his public image all while answering questions from 500-plus journalists.

Putins spokesperson also indicated that a press conference may take place in the New Year, but did not give a specific date or format for the event.

The president had also postponed his annual live Direct Line question-and-answer session with ordinary Russian citizens over apparent concerns he would face difficult questions about the war and his chaotic call to mobilize 300,000 conscripts in September.

Putin will also not be hosting a New Year celebration, Peskov said.

There has been significant speculation about the Russian strongmans health amid rumors he is suffering from cancer affecting his stomach and bowels as well as a worsening case of Parkinsons disease. The Kremlin has denied that Putin is struggling with any illnesses.

Putin who has been in power since 2000 has held an annual press conference in December for about a decade. In 2019, a record of 1,895 journalists were accredited.

With Post wires

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Putin cancels annual briefing as suspicions grow he's running from war

Russian Navy takes delivery of weapon of the apocalypse as Putin delivers on strategic threat  EL PAS USA

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Russian Navy takes delivery of weapon of the apocalypse as Putin delivers on strategic threat - EL PAS USA