There can be a lot of reasons why but at the forefront is most likely the Russian forces in Ukraine are folding…
Maybe the units are needed to stop the coup in Russia... or are joining it. Putin on the brink: Thousands of Chechen fighters sent to Moscow as coup fears grow THOUSANDS of Chechen fighters have reportedly been dispatched to Moscow to bolster Russia's National Guard, as fears of a coup against Vladimir Putin grow https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...rs-chechens-sent-to-moscow-russia-ukraine-war The National Guard (Rosgvardia) is an internal military force that reports directly to the Russian President. It was created in 2016 to fight terrorism and maintain public order. The force is currently headed by Viktor Zolotov, a former bodyguard of the Russian leader. The Rosgvardia is often referred to as Putin's "private army" and has mostly been used to violently suppress peaceful anti-regime demonstrations. Reports have emerged that up to seven thousand Chechens have been drafted into the National Guard's ranks. The deployment has led to speculation that the Russian despot fears growing public unrest and a possible coup attempt from his elites. The news site Kavkaz Center tweeted: "Interesting info from Chechnya. "KC sources report that a large batch of armed #Kadyrovtsy has been transferred to #МMoscow . "The numbers vary from 3 to 7 thousand. Allegedly at the command of Zolotov. "There is no official data, but this information is widely disseminated among the population." Chechnya is ruled by the son of a former warlord who fought against the Russians in first Chechen War between 1994 and 1996. Ramzan Kadyrov is a staunch Putin supporter and has sent some of his fighters to Ukraine to help support the Russian army. He criticised Russia's commanders for their failure to deal with Ukraine's Kharkiv counter and threatened to intervene personally if things did not improve quickly. The Chechen leader said in an audio post to his Telegram channel on Sunday: "They have made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions. "If today or tomorrow no changes in strategy are made, I will be forced to speak with the leadership of the Defence Ministry and the leadership of the country to explain the real situation on the ground to them. "It’s a very interesting situation. It’s astounding, I would say." He implied that Putin was not aware of how serious the situation had become. Fears of growing domestic unrest have been stoked by recent political developments in Russia. Last week local councillors from Saint Petersburg called for the Russian leader to be prosecuted with treason. The local politicians were subsequently detained and questioned by police, before being released. Dmitry Palyuga, one of the councillors from the Smolensky district, said he and his co-councillors had received a lot of support from the public for their actions. He said: "After being called to the police, they ask me if I regretted that we made a decision about treason. "And I am glad that we took that decision, and I am proud of every deputy! "I received a bunch of messages from strangers with words of support. People found me on VK (Russian FB) and Instagram for this. There are a lot of us!"
China gives ‘endorsement’ for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine By Austin Ramzy September 11, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...ia-s-invasion-of-ukraine-20220911-p5bh7a.html Hong Kong: A senior Chinese official offered Beijing’s most robust endorsement yet of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, telling a group of Russian lawmakers that China “understands and supports Russia,” particularly “on the situation in Ukraine,” according to an official Russian description of the meeting. Li Zhanshu, the third-ranking member of the Communist Party of China, visited Moscow last week after attending an economic forum in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where he met with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Li is the most senior Chinese official to leave the country since the start of the pandemic. Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Li Zhanshu with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week.Credit:AP Li travelled in advance of a trip by Xi Jinping, China’s leader, who is expected to go to Kazakhstan on Wednesday and Uzbekistan later in the week, where he will meet with Putin at a gathering of leaders from the region. Russia is touting warming ties with China as its war drive is facing setbacks, with Ukrainian forces retaking territory in the country’s north-east and some Kremlin allies grumbling about the grinding conflict lasting longer than expected. In Vladivostok Li praised Putin, saying that under his leadership Russia was “not crushed by the severe sanctions of the United States and the West, but rather in a short period achieved stability and showed resilience”. But it was later in Moscow on Friday that he offered his strongest endorsement of the Russian leadership. “We see that the United States and its NATO allies are expanding their presence near the Russian borders, seriously threatening national security and the lives of Russian citizens,” Li said, according to a description from the Russian parliament. “We fully understand the necessity of all the measures taken by Russia aimed at protecting its key interests; we are providing our assistance.” “On the Ukrainian issue, we see how they have put Russia in an impossible situation,” he added. “And in this case, Russia made an important choice and responded firmly.” China has trodden carefully in addressing the war in Ukraine. The Chinese state news media did not report on Li’s Ukraine comments and has given his trip modest coverage. Russia invaded Ukraine days after the end of the Beijing Olympics. Xi met with Putin in Beijing before the start of the Games, releasing a 5300-word statement that described a friendship with “no limits” between the two countries and a shared ambition to counter the influence of outside forces in their regions, a message aimed squarely at the United States. While Beijing has refused to criticise Putin’s actions or refer to the conflict as a “war,” it has also been cautious about overtly endorsing it and denied any advance knowledge of Russia’s plans. China has maintained robust trade ties with Russia, buying record levels of its oil in May, June and July as Europe is increasingly shunning Russian petroleum. But China has been careful to avoid violating sanctions on Russia that could lead to its being punished as well. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
From Reuters: Sounds like Putin is on the ropes in a BIG way: Russia's current account surplus - the difference in value between exports and imports - more than tripled year-on-year in the first seven months of 2022, to a record $166.6 billion, as revenues soared while sanctions caused imports to plunge… Putin has ordered 10% rises in pensions and the minimum wage to soften the blow from inflation, while major employers such as No.1 lender Sberbank (SBER.MM) and gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) raised salaries from July. read more The unemployment rate was 3.9% in June, its lowest since the statistics service started publishing the figure in 1992, according to the Eikon database. Putin's approval rating was 83% in July, up more than 10 percentage points since the Ukraine campaign started on Feb. 24, according to polling by the independent Levada Centre.
Putin is in a tough pickle there. Bringing those Chechens in just rattles the confidence of the citizens in Moscow. The citizenry wakes up in the morning and thinks: "WTF is going on here. Russians are supposed to have the second largest army in the world. But that army is off in Ukraine getting its arse kicked and surrendering, and now the Kremlin has had to import Chechens to protect the capital. Then they watch State TV and everyone is talking about solving the troop shortage by ordering a mobilization of everyone between the ages of 8 and 80. I dont think Putin will ever be outright overthrown but the Russians have ways of moving people aside, so that they still have titles but are not in charge. When Gorbachov hit a low spot he went to the Black Sea for a few days of vacation. While he was there was a coup and he was put under house arrest by the coup planners. The Russian government intervened and rescused Gorby and technically prevented a coup. Nevertheless, Gorby was sidelined from there and replaced shortly thereafter. Don't think for a minute that that little episode does not weigh on Putin's mind. It could be deja vu all over again. No actual coup, but lots of "reassignment of the president's duties" and then slide him out for some other reason a couple months later. Yeh. Lots of ways to lose if you are Russian. I won't get into the weeds but will mention in passing that they did that same routine with the Tzar as well. He had command of the troops in WW1 and was losing lots of battles. So they did not overthrow him but moved him aside and took command of the troops away from him. Once again, something for Vlad to think about. Vlad, we are trying to help you, Mate. Announce your retirement. Move to Turkey. Get a metal detector and spend your days at the beach looking for bottle caps on the beach, the way lots of retired men do.
Yeh. great. His cash on hand and surplus are growing because he is not able to purchase and import what is needed to keep his war machine going. Other than that, everything is groovy. What could go wrong there if you are a country at war? The Ukrainians will be fighting Chechens in Red Square but not to worry as long as Putin's ratings are up. Also, that "July" approval rating might need to be revised a little due to "recent events," eh? That high approval rating might very well lead to his assassination but no need to get picky.
Patriotism based polling boosts don’t often last long, especially for aggressors. More so for aggressors who are getting their asses handed to them while citizens get their daily routines disrupted. Want to contemplate the above on approval ratings and an extended war?
ROFL. Yeah. That's gonna be happening any day now. Whoa. Russia loses 3000km2 after taking almost100k and suddenly the Ukrainians are taking over Russia. And you managed to spin a current account surplus with their central commodity selling at record prices into a negative because they can't import consumer crap. YOU should be White House press secretary, my man. YOU are a spin-meister extraordinaire. Hats off, dawg.
A turning point in Ukraine leads to a turning point in Russia: Longtime Kremlin supporters are now calling the war a ‘disaster’ A rout on the battlefield has led to unheard of criticism inside Russia. https://www.grid.news/story/global/...upporters-are-now-calling-the-war-a-disaster/
If Russia is going to fire artillery and missiles from inside Russia at Ukraine then they should expect a response. It's also unwise to shoot your munitions from locations nearby civilians -- effectively trying to use your fellow Russian citizens as human shields.