Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech during the military parade in Moscow on May 9 shows his confidence in the war against Ukraine is faltering, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov says in an interview with DW. Kasyanov, who led the government from 2000 to 2004, was a former ally of Putin’s but later became a political rival and now lives in exile.
“Mr. Putin’s reaction and his speech was absolutely weak,” adds Kasyanov, describing Putin’s behavior as “a bit nervous” during the Victory Day parade. Kasyanov added that he believes Putin “has already begun to realize that he is losing this war.”
He also agrees with the belief, expressed by some analysts, that Putin’s inner circle is not providing the Russian leader with an accurate and complete picture of the situation for fear of giving him bad news. “I am sure that he was deceived,” Kasyanov believes, adding: “he believed that his army [estaba] in good shape” and that the invasion would take very little time.
But with Russia experiencing numerous battlefield defeats, Kasyanov warned that Putin will likely seek to push the conflict into a new phase. “Now we are reaching another stage” where the rivalry extends to “economic potential, military potential,” he explains. And he points out that the decision of Western countries to send heavy weapons to Ukraine gives kyiv “a decisive advantage” in the short term.
When asked how he views Putin compared to when he worked with him, he sees a drastic change. “I worked with him 20 years ago. He was a completely different person. It was a completely different situation at the time,” she explains. “We had a parliament, an independent parliament, we had an independent media, we had a judiciary. Today it is a completely different world.”
“Mr. Putin destroyed all the features of the democratic state and now there is only an absolutely authoritarian regime that is gradually moving towards a totalitarian one,” concludes Kasyanov.
lgc (dw)
