Little shovel aimed at Vladimir Putin? While the head of the Kremlin must manage one of the most important crises in recent Russian history after Wagner’s aborted rebellion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Monday was “a happy day.”
In his daily address, the head of the Ukrainian army assures that his troops have advanced “in all directions” on the front line.
“It’s a happy day. I wish the boys [aux soldats, ndlr] no more days like this,” the Ukrainian president said.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar also announced on Monday that the army had occupied 17km of land against Moscow forces, or 130km2 since the beginning of June. He said that the town of Rivnopil, in the Donetsk region, had been taken.
Take advantage of the crisis?
Would Ukraine benefit from the crisis in Russia? The last 72 hours have been difficult for Vladimir Putin in Moscow. He made himself spend Monday night as a guarantor of internal peace in Russia, claiming to have avoided a bloodbath, during his first public statement since Wagner’s brief rebellion, which its leader Yevgeny Prigojine justified to save the paramilitary group and not take the power.
Thanking the Russians for their “resilience”, their “unity” and their “patriotism”, Vladimir Putin declared that “this citizen solidarity has shown that any blackmail (…) is doomed to failure”.
If the coup ended as suddenly as it began, this crisis represents the biggest challenge Vladimir Putin has faced since he came to power in late 1999.
Scrutinized in all foreign ministries, it “reveals real cracks” at the highest level of the Russian state, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday. Many analysts also believe that he could weaken Russian forces in Ukraine and benefit kyiv in its counteroffensive.
Source: BFM TV
