Russian opponent Alexei Navalny said Monday that Moscow’s military defeat in Ukraine is “inevitable” even if the Kremlin sends more troops into Ukrainian territory.
“The lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been senselessly ruined,” Navalny said in a statement released the week of the first year of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
“Final military defeat may be delayed at the cost of the lives of hundreds of thousands of additional reservists, but by and large it is inevitable.” defended Navalny, who is being held.
The lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers were needlessly ruined. Final military defeat may be delayed at the cost of the lives of hundreds of thousands of additional mobilized soldiers, but is generally inevitable.
– Alexey Navalny (@navalny) February 20, 2023
Navalny claimed he is a Russian citizen who wants the best for his country and condemned President Vladimir Putin’s “unfair” aggression against Ukraine.
“There are almost no volunteers for this war,” Navalny said in the statement posted on social media. “Putin’s army relies on prisoners and is mobilized by force.”
For Navalny, the Russian president wants to go down in history as a “conqueror king” and a “land collector”.
Referring to “tens of thousands of innocent Ukrainians killed”, the Russian opponent lamented “the pain and suffering” of millions, the “war crimes” and the “cities and infrastructure of Ukraine” that were destroyed.
He criticized “the Kremlin’s mendacious and hypocritical calls for negotiations and a ceasefire” and argued that Russia should adopt Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders in 1991.
“Russia must leave Ukraine alone and allow the development of the country to take place in the way the people want. End the aggression, end the war and withdraw all Russian troops from Ukraine,” he said in an appeal.
According to the opponent of the Russian government, Moscow should work with the US, the EU and the UK to find “acceptable ways to compensate for the damage done to Ukraine”.
In the communiqué released on the day US President Joe Biden visited Kiev, Navalny defended the end of Putin’s regime “ideally by holding free general elections” so that Russia would then, while preserving its “history and traditions”, would become “part of Europe”, according to “the European development path”.
Source: DN
