– It does not pay to try to fool yourself. The Ukrainian conscription army is highly motivated. It receives help from the United States and the European Union. The situation will get worse for us.
This is what the Russian military columnist and colonel in the reserve, Mikhail Chodarjonok, says. And he says it not anywhere, but in a live broadcast on a discussion program that was broadcast a few days ago on one of Russia’s most important propaganda channels, Rossija 1.
In an extremely rare moment of candour on Russian state TV today, defence columnist Mikhail Khodaryonok gave a damning assessment of Russia's war in Ukraine and his country's international isolation. It's fairly long but worth your time so I've added subtitles. pic.twitter.com/0mr7WAgSx6
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 16, 2022
– You have to look at the situation as a whole. On the battlefield, it is the battle morale that decides, ultimately. That the soldiers are ready to bleed, that they know what they are fighting for. The Ukrainian conscription army is motivated, he says.
Chodarjonok is repeatedly interrupted by journalist Olga Skabejeva, one of the Kremlin’s most famous propagandists. She says that the Ukrainian army lacks professional knowledge, something that Chodarjonok dismisses. According to him, a highly motivated conscription army can be a formidable opponent.
– We have a completely wrong dogma in Russia, according to which a person who has signed a contract for the army is automatically a professional. But that does not have to be the case at all, Chodarjonok points out.
– In the military, the main thing is always to be realistic. Otherwise, you will be severely punished by history, states Michail Chodarjonok. He also advises against all attempts to rally weapons because Finland and Sweden join NATO.
– For God’s sake – do not start aiming any missiles at Finland! It would just look comical. Our most important problem right now is that we are in total geopolitical isolation. We do not want to admit it, but we have the whole world against us. It is a situation that we simply have to get out of.
Already on February 3 – just over three weeks before the war broke out – Chodarjonok wrote a column in Nezavisimoje voennoje obozrenie in which he warned that an attack on Ukraine would be a disaster.
– Some have imagined that Russia can defeat Ukraine militarily in a few hours. That no one in Ukraine is prepared to defend the so-called “Kiev regime”. This indicates a total ignorance of the mood in Ukraine. No one will meet the Russian army with bread, salt and flowers, writes Chodarjonok.
It is likely that criticism within the system will increase as the problems grow
He is not the only one who reported a dissenting opinion. Already on March 9 said Karen Shakhnazarovdirector and head of the state-owned film company Mosfilm, that the Kremlin had miscalculated in Ukraine.
– It’s time to admit one thing – in thirty years, the Ukrainians have managed to consolidate their nation. Central and western Ukraine are united. We do not see a particularly welcoming attitude (towards the Russian army) there. “We did not think the Ukrainian army would defend itself, but they are fighting,” said Shakhnazarov of State Russia.
– Let us not deny realities. By all accounts, a miscalculation has taken place here, he stated.
Later threatened Shakhnazarov those who oppose the symbol Z (which supports the Russian army in Ukraine) with “concentration camps and sterilization”. It does not necessarily mean that he takes back his words. The criticism is not about whether it was right or wrong to attack Ukraine, but about how well the Russian army is actually performing on the battlefield.
It is a problem that is becoming increasingly difficult for the Kremlin to solve. In fact, the Russian army is stuck in the Ukrainian mud, and the army does not have enough soldiers. And it is likely that criticism within the system will increase as the problems grow.
It does not have to mean an end to the war. On the other hand, the Kremlin is changing tactics – something we already saw signs of when Putin seems to have given up the plan to take Kyiv.