Ukraine war latest: Kyiv’s ambassador to the US supports walked-back regime change call

There would have been little of word within the two-minute video Russia launched on Saturday of Sergei Shoigu discussing procurement — had it not been the primary confirmed sighting of Russia’s defence minister in two weeks.

The longest-serving minister within the Russian authorities, Shoigu has been a near-constant presence on tv for the previous three many years. His absence at a time of struggle initially sparked rumours of in poor health well being, denied by the Kremlin.

Moscow says the defence minister is just busy. Shoigu “has rather a lot on, there’s a particular navy operation and it’s probably not the time for media exercise”, Dmitry Peskov, president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, informed reporters on Thursday.

The thriller surrounding the defence minister, one among Russia’s hottest politicians and lengthy an in depth ally of Putin, has come because the navy that has been revamped throughout his tenure has run into difficulties in Ukraine because the invasion of the nation stalls.

Analysts have been struck by the diploma to which Russia’s operations have deviated from its common battlefield technique. It seems to not have arrange a unified command construction underneath a single officer, making it tough to co-ordinate every part from air assist to logistics.

“This struggle doesn’t match the best way that the Russian navy trains, prepares and is supplied to combat,” stated Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at College School London who research the nation’s armed forces.

“Clearly the preliminary operation was constructed on Putin’s weird notions about Ukraine that it’s not an actual nation, not an actual individuals and subsequently the entire edifice will simply collapse.”

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