At this point, it is beginning to get rather difficult to take the word of the Kremlin on anything.
Vladimir Putin, who may or may not be living out his Tsar-ist fantasies as he dies of bowel cancer, had previously suggested to the world that he was looking to “de-nazify” Ukraine during the invasion – which he seemed to believe would only last about 72 hours.
But, as it turns out, there were no nazis running the show in Ukraine and the people of that country don’t appear as though they will ever allow a Russian occupation to occur.
Furthermore, the story that has been told to Russia’s military officers appears to be something far removed from reality, and it has one captured commander suggesting that they were sent into Ukraine to commit genocide.
National Guard Lt. Col. Astakhov Dmitry Mikhailovich, who was captured along with two other soldiers, said he had been told they were being sent to help Ukraine because it was “dominated by a fascist regime” and that “nationalists and Nazis had seized power.”
“Obviously, this information was unilateral information,” Mikhailovich told reporters in a video that emerged Monday.
And that wasn’t all…
“You are in a tense situation, going against your own commander. But this is genocide,” he said. “Russia cannot win here anyway. Even if we go until the very end. We can invade the territory but we cannot invade the people.”
This could easily explain why so many Russian troops have been defecting and surrendering, and why the morale among Moscow’s fighting force is at an abysmal low.
