(Warning: The above audio contains profanity, albeit of the untranslated Russian variety.)
Behind the scenes, Vladimir Putin’s inner circle is really not thrilled with his war on Ukraine, and we’re slowly hearing more about this internal mess. That includes word of a few significant developments: (1) Putin’s inner circle is reportedly maneuvering to install a successor based upon the ongoing dismal invasion; and (2) U.S. intelligence officers claim to have viewed documents showing that Putin’s “rule is no longer absolute” (also partially due to his health and an assassination attempt).
Not only that, but previously leaked audio showed how Russian troops are so fed up with this war that they nearly blew up their general, and yup, there’s more of the same coming to show that Putin’s Army officers are peeved with what he’s having them do in Ukraine, too. You can listen to the non-translated audio footage above, in which Russian colonels call Putin the c-word and a “host of f*ckers.”
Via Business Insider, the audio also features these officers going off on a close Putin ally, Russia’s minister of defense Sergei Shoigu, who signed onto Putin’s plan to invade Ukraine months ago. The colonels (one of them being Lieutenant Colonel Vladimirovich Vlasov) described Shoigu as “completely fucking incompetent” and “just a f*cking showman, for f*ck’s sake.” In addition, Vlasov goes off on Gen. Alexander Dvornikov (who has apparently been off the scene for weeks, and he’s not alone, since Putin’s been firing military leaders like crazy) as a “brainless f*cking idiot.”
So, it sounds like this imperialistic war isn’t going nearly as smoothly as Putin had hoped, but that’s also what one gets when one messes with molotov cocktail-wielding grandmas and the will of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who refused to be airlifted out. And NBC News is now reporting that, 100 days into this war, the Ukrainian people are more committed than ever to stand their ground and take their whole country back from Vladimir Putin.
(Via Business Insider)