Putin asks commanders for suggestions on military operation

Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting with military commanders leading the Ukraine War and gathered opinions on the direction of combat operations, foreign media reports say. With rumors snowballing that Putin has become reclusive lately, some watchers say he is preparing an operation to escape to Latin America if he gets ousted.

According to Reuters on Saturday, President Putin called about 10 military commanders on Friday and heard their opinions about the operational direction of the war. According to video footage released by the Kremlin on the day, Putin held a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and top military commanders, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. “I would like to hear your suggestions about operations that we need over short term and mid-term,” Putin was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Ahead of the year’s end, Ukraine has been stepping up offensives against Russia. The New York Times reported on Saturday that despite Washington’s request not to, Ukraine attempted to snipe a top Russian military commander. The U.S. government, which had gathered intelligence on Gerasimov’s visit to a frontline area, did not inform Kyiv of this due to concern over the possibility of further spread of the war. Ukraine acquired the intelligence through another source and pushed ahead with an attack on Gerasimov. Washington requested Kyiv to ‘cancel the attack,’ but the Ukraine government replied, ‘It had launched the operation already,’ the New York Times reported. The daily reported in May that the Ukraine military attempted intensive attacks on Gerasimov in April.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com