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The Telegraph
Ukraine: The Latest - the Russian army 'may be splintering at the top'
3 David Knowles
Fri, July 14, 2023 at 8:41 AM PDT·2 min read
Ukrainian soldier of the 35th Brigade next to a destroyed Russian tank
in the counteroffensive
Ukrainian soldier of the 35th Brigade next to a destroyed Russian tank
in the counteroffensive
Today on Ukraine: The Latest, we bring you latest updates from the
warzone, analyse the sacking of Major General Ivan Popov, and discuss
morale and casualty rates among Russian forces during the Ukrainian
counter-offensive.

First, Assistant Comment Editor Francis Dearnley sums up the latest
update from the British MOD:

According to the British Ministry of Defence, Russia may be worried for
the safety of its nuclear submarines after the mutiny by Wagner
mercenaries last month.

They understand that submarines from Moscow’s Northern Fleet will not
take part in this month’s Navy Day Fleet Review in St. Petersburg for
the first time in its six year history. Now, the MOD say this could
reflect the need to keep submarines on standby for operations, but adds
that it could be because of security.

And this, of course, comes after reports that the Wagner paramilitary
group came close to seizing a stockpile of nuclear weapons as they
marched towards Moscow in June. So the MOD say, and I quote, there is a
“realistic possibility that internal security concerns since Wagner
attempted its mutiny have contributed to this decision.”

Senior Foreign Correspondent Roland Oliphant also gives his take on the
sacking of Russian Major General Ivan Popov, who publicly voiced his
criticisms of the Russian military elite:

I think there are serious cracks showing in the Russian War machine at
the very top. We’ve talked at length about the Wagner mutiny, which was
one expression of that, but this is the first time that I can think of
where you have a senior officer, not Prigozhin or some Z-blogger who
whose job is to mouth off, but an actual senior general commissioned
officer, airing exactly those complaints that we’ve heard for so long.

The central nub of his complaint, the way he tells it, was that ‘we
don’t have enough counter battery fire’, ‘we don’t have enough artillery
reconnaissance’, and because of that, a lot of people are dying. And he
says it came to the point where he had to either, shut up, be a
‘coward’, or give them the uncomfortable bad news.

If that’s true, it suggests a military that’s really got a problem with
hearing basic facts. Because this problem with artillery is a basic fact
about this war. You will find soldiers on both sides who are grumbling
about this and grumbling about how their superiors handle it.

And what should be happening, in both armies, is that, senior officers
should be going to their superiors and banging the table and saying,
look, my guys need more ammo, fighting the corner for your unit.

Later, former tank commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon speaks about how
the impact of the huge casualties the Russian army may be starting to
filter down to the Russian people:

In various discussions I’ve had with intelligence people in this country
and overseas, there is evidence this actually starting to get through to
the Russian population. Most Russian media controlled by the Kremlin is
all propaganda and disinformation, but suddenly people are beginning to
realise the human cost of what we’re looking at here. There is a view, I
think in certain security organisations, that this dam might well be
about to burst.

We might be reaching some sort of tipping point.

Listen to Ukraine: the Latest, The Telegraph’s daily podcast, using the
audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or your favourite podcast app.

War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday the Telegraph’s top
journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military,
humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you
need to know to stay updated.

With over 30 million downloads, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is your
go-to source for all the latest analysis, live reaction and
correspondents reporting on the ground. We have been broadcasting ever
since the full-scale invasion began.

Ukraine: The Latest’s regular contributors are:

David Knowles

David is Head of Social Media at the Telegraph where he has worked for
almost two years. Previously he worked for the World Economic Forum in
Geneva. He speaks French.

Dominic Nicholls

Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at the Telegraph having joined in
2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and
helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan
and Northern Ireland.

Francis Dearnley

Francis is Assistant Comment Editor at the Telegraph. Prior to working
as a journalist, he was Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Prime
Minister’s Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He
studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how
the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and
strategic developments.

They are also regularly joined by the Telegraph’s foreign correspondents
around the world, including Joe Barnes (Brussels), Sophia Yan (China),
Nataliya Vasilyeva (Russia), Roland Oliphant (Senior Reporter) and Colin
Freeman (Reporter). In London, Venetia Rainey (Weekend Foreign Editor),
Katie O’Neill (Assistant Foreign Editor), and Verity Bowman (News
Reporter) also frequently appear to offer updates.

Scuba
54 minutes ago

According to "The Telegraph", Putin has died repeatedly of horrible
diseases and is replaced by doubles. Furthermore, Russia does not have
any missiles left, and Russian soldiers are fighting with shovels.

Perhaps "The Telegraph" ought to pay some attention to what Ben Wallace
said to Zelensky's face a few days ago:

"UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's 'we are not Amazon' jibe at Ukraine
a real warning about the risk of war fatigue.

Ben Wallace had been trying to address an uncomfortable truth about the
need for Kyiv to keep in mind the political reality in certain nations,
where support for giving arms and money to fight Russia's invasion is
not always universal."

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Gordon
35 minutes ago

Such a break up would be pretty much what Ezekiel predicted in ch 38 and
how it ends in ch 39.

This is a sign of God in control as Putin looses control.

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