Putin Is Asking Military Commanders for Advice On Ukraine Next Steps: Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking advice on how to proceed with the war in Ukraine – and the Kremlin is being very open about it.
On Saturday, the Kremlin confirmed that the Russian president has already sought proposals from his military commanders on how they believe the campaign in Ukraine should continue.
Putin sought the proposals during a visit to the Russian Joint Forces headquarters in Russia, and the conference comes as Russian forces appear to be in retreat in many parts of Ukraine.
In video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin can be seen meeting with a dozen or more people, including Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“We will listen to commanders in every operational direction,” Putin is heard saying in the video.
A post shared by Russian Telegram account Zvezdanews described how, following a series of presentations on the present state of the invasion, Putin said that he was “ready to listen to proposals for immediate and medium-term actions in special operations.”
Putin Has Major Ukraine Problems
Putin can be seen in the video sitting at the head of a conference table, specifically requesting advice.
None of the responses from Russia’s top military generals were shared, however, Russian media outlets confirmed that Putin spent the entire day at the headquarters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed some details of the visit to the Interfax news agency but did not confirm whether the Russian president was only looking for advice on how to regain ground in Ukraine or if he was also considering the possibility of withdrawing troops from Ukraine or seeking new goals in the face of recent defeats.
Russia Wants Even More Troops
After enlisting more than 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine, Moscow has launched a fresh campaign to encourage more Russian troops to sign up to fight in Ukraine.
The surprise campaign comes after the Kremlin insisted that the partial mobilization of troops was complete and that there is no need for more troops to be enlisted.
In one video, posted on December 14, a young man is shown choosing to fight for Russia instead of going to a party.
The young man then surprises his friends by buying himself a car that was paid for by his military contract. Another video shows the former girlfriend of a soldier looking impressed with the courage of her former lover when he signs up to fight in Ukraine.
The reality of fighting for Russia in Ukraine is very different, with soldiers suffering from low morale and a lack of access to basic necessities on the battlefield.
Russia’s latest advertising campaign, however, indicates that Putin’s request for advice from his military commanders is focused predominantly on winning the war and not on withdrawing or changing the Kremlin’s goals in Ukraine.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor.
