UK Defense Ministry: Former Kremlin proxy's public criticism points at 'fraught debate' in Russian military
Igor Girkin, formerly a well-known Kremlin proxy who played a major role in the Russian invasion of Donetsk Oblast in 2014, and a former Russian military officer, publicly derided Russia’s strategy after his recent experience embedded among Russian troops on the front line.
UK Defense Ministry pointed out in its daily update on Dec. 14 that Girkin’s comments questioning Russia’s “extensive, positional defensive works” and complaining about the absence of strartegic planning demonstrate the "fraught debate about the conduct of the war" among Russia’s military community. Factional tensions likely extend to the top of Russia’s military hierarchy, the report added.
Still, the report stressed that rumors over the sacking of Russia’s General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov couldn’t be verified.
