2024-08-17 00:35:39
Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to demonstrate his competence in managing the situation in the Kursk region, while shifting the blame for the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ invasion to other Russian officials and military personnel, the US Institute for the Study of War reports.
In their opinion, Putin continues to present himself as an effective and knowledgeable leader, capable of controlling the situation along the border between Ukraine and Russia, while shifting responsibility for current problems to other Russian military personnel and officials.
Thus, on August 12, Putin held a meeting with Russian military, security forces, and representatives of federal and regional authorities on the situation in the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions. At this meeting, he set tasks for Russian military and security forces in the Kursk region and expressed his opinion on the political situation that has developed in connection with the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory.
Putin publicly rebuked the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, for touching on issues that, in the president’s opinion, are exclusively within the competence of the Russian Defense Ministry, and instructed him to focus exclusively on the socio-economic issues of the region.
In addition, Putin noted that First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who stated that all issues were under control, did not take into account several key social aspects.
Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov appealed to Putin with a request to implement a social policy to help the region’s population, but avoided criticism by not touching on military issues, as did Bryansk Region Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz.
Analysts point out that Putin’s statement that every official should be responsible for his own area of work contrasts with his attempts to present himself as a man capable of monitoring and understanding the political, socio-economic and military situation along the international border.
The Kremlin has released video recordings and texts of reports from border region leaders to Putin about the problems their regional authorities are facing, likely to portray them as needing the president’s help. However, the recordings or texts of the military and security officials’ reports were likely deliberately hidden. Experts believe this could serve as a warning to other Russian officials to refrain from commenting on the Ukrainian invasion.
Putin also instructed the Russian Defense Ministry, the FSB, and the Russian National Guard to coordinate actions in the area of the Ukrainian-Russian border, which indicates attempts to create unified command structures to manage operations in the Kursk region. Putin called the Defense Ministry’s main task the expulsion of Ukrainian forces from Russian territory.
Earlier, “Kursor” reported that the White House gave Putin a universal “recipe” for how to end the war and the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.