Putin's Forces Are 'Clowns,' Don't Know How to Fight: Ex-Russian Commander

Former Russian commander Igor Girkin, who formerly played an integral role in the 2014 annexation of Crimea as an FSB officer, continues to remain highly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the nation's military in its war against Ukraine.

New criticisms are being levied as both Russia and Ukraine are reportedly formulating their spring offensive strategies. Putin recently visited the Russian-controlled regions of southern Kherson and eastern Luhansk due to "heavy losses" incurred, according to the British Defense Ministry.

Russia's adversary has long been strategizing how to approach its own counteroffensive. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Wednesday that "complex" plans have been underway with multiple approaches being weighed to successfully attack Russian forces.

"War is when two states are at war," Girkin, who also goes by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, wrote Thursday on Telegram. "And we do not have a war, we have a bloody circus. With bloody clowns in uniform and without. They don't even know how to fight, and they can't decide to declare war on the enemy."

His post was in response to a "colleague" from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who had written in a Telegram post that "the war continues" and "whatever you call her, she goes on Russian soil."

Earlier this week Girkin, a self-described Russian nationalist military blogger, officially announced the launch of his Angry Patriots Club which included its own manifesto blasting Russia's "mediocre" approach to its own invasion.

"The opportunity for a quick and bloodless victory over the Ukrainian state, which has become a weapon of NATO, was missed back in 2014 by the signing of the treacherous Minsk agreements," the manifesto reads in part, according to an English translation. "The military operation launched in 2022 could have gone according to a completely different scenario, but a mediocre organization at the strategic, operational and tactical level led our country to a war of attrition."

Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Girkin has been vocal and unabashed in his condemnation of Russia's military strategy. He has routinely attacked Putin and Russia's highest military officials, pejoratively calling the latter "idiots" while referring to Putin as a "cretin" whose forces are "guaranteed" to lose.

Girkin also ranted Thursday about Russia's ineptitude on the battlefield, specifically, the ignorance of not realizing in the war's first year that supplies from abroad were "critical." He questioned how no higher-ups made it imperative to restock on weapons, gun and artillery-wise, as well as tanks, bulletproof vests, first aid kits, uniforms and "communication of the most primitive level."

"How did it turn out that the plan for the Special Military Operation was built on the basis of data completely divorced from reality?" Girkin wrote. "How did it happen that it contained - as basic - information about the unpreparedness of the enemy's armed forces for decisive resistance and there was no information about the high level of combat training and even higher morale of his regular army?"

Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin via email for comment.

Volodymyr Dubovyk, associate professor of international relations and director of the Center for International Studies at Mechnikov National University in Odesa, Ukraine, told Newsweek via email that "much hinges on the potential offensive" on Ukraine's behalf.

Rushing the process "would be a terrible and costly mistake," he added while saying that it would be "unrealistic" to expect Russian military forces to simply unravel in their own special military operation.

"[Russia has] been readying for a while, putting their defensive installations in place," Dubovyk said. "The advantage of fighting for their homeland, and thus a motivation, is still a major factor going forward for the Ukrainian troops. But it would
not be easy, swift, and certainly will come at a price."

The impact of the West's impact on providing weaponry and continued support for its Ukrainian allies also remains a big question mark, Dubovyk said. While much has already been given, he said NATO nations are still toeing the line of assistance and not provoking Russia to extreme escalation—which could include nuclear provocations as has been routine throughout the war's duration.

"It becomes a vicious circle, in a sense: expect Ukraine to deliver but not providing enough tools for it," he said. "Much has been given, certainly, but yet not enough for the war of this scale and magnitude."