4/15/23
Igor Girkin, a military blogger and former Russian commander, predicted Ukraine’s future offensive, which he thinks might get the Russian President Valdimir Putin and his supporters “out of a state of being on the planet of pink ponies.”
Girkin’s remarks came as part of an interview posted with English subtitles on Saturday by Twitter account user @TheKremlinYap, which posts segments of Russian state TV.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine last February with confidence that his country would achieve a quick victory against his Eastern European neighbor, but Russia’s goals have been hindered by a stronger-than-expected response from Ukrainian troops, mainly backed and bolstered by military aid from the West.
Over the past few months, Western nations, including NATO members, have provided Ukraine with advanced military equipment, tanks, and artillery to help prepare the war-torn country with its counter offensive against Russia in the spring. The ongoing war extended to major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson, and Bakhmut—which has been the site of an intense months-long fight.
Predicting Ukraine’s next steps, Girkin said that the Ukrainian army might launch a series of “diversionary” strikes that would prompt Russia to react “seriously.” The former Russian commander explained that Ukraine might follow tactics that would provoke Russia such as striking Russian territories.
“They [Ukrainian troops] are unlikely to set the task of capturing [Russian city] Belgorod …That is fraught with the risk that the Russian bear will really stop sluggishly fighting back. He will get angry, jump out of the den, and start fighting for real,” Girkin said.
Belgorod was the site where Soviet power was established in 1917, but the city was occupied by Germany in April 1918. Later that year, Belgorod became part of Ukraine until it was recaptured in 1943 by Soviet forces.
Girkin explained that Ukraine might not need to capture Belgorod, but it could launch a strike there to get Putin and his “entourage out of a state of being on the planet of pink ponies.”
“But I think they’ll do several so-called ‘searches.’ They’ll show activity. They can advance a few kilometers, capture a few settlements, and impose defensive battles on us there. That is, our troops will have to knock them out of there. There will be a scandal, shouting, noise, and attention will be drawn to it. And they will indict the main blow somewhere else entirely,” the former Russian commander added, according to the translated segment posted on Twitter.
Girkin, an avid critic of Putin, has been providing assessments of the Russian war in Ukraine since it began over a year ago. He has often pointed out Russian troop’s weaknesses and assessed achievements made by the Ukrainian army.
Last month, he warned that the Kremlin’s description of the war puts Russian troops at risk of being considered criminals, saying “from a legal standpoint, it is not known what the so-called Special Military Operation is.”
“It is just unknown. The troops that are fighting now don’t have any legal standing,” he said in a clip on his Telegram social media channel tweeted by Twitter user Natalka and XSoviet News.
“This is why if this ends in defeat, not a single soldier will be able to say he was just following an order because from the legal standpoint, he didn’t have the right to follow it. How can a soldier shoot a citizen of a formally sovereign state when no war has been declared? This makes him a criminal,” he added.
Newsweek reached out by email to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
“This is why if this ends in defeat, not a single soldier will be able to say he was just following an order because from the legal standpoint, he didn’t have the right to follow it. How can a soldier shoot a citizen of a formally sovereign state when no war has been declared? This makes him a criminal,”
You can say and think what you want about Girkin, but he’s always right on the money with his statements. The one about the planet of pink ponies, too.
Declaring war does not change that. when you wage aggressive war, you are still a war criminal.
The mafiosi are guilty on two counts, at least.