Vladimir Putin was “a laughing stock” after surrounding himself with “absolutely incompetent” military leaders before the war in Ukraine, the former Russian vice president has said in a scathing attack on the Russian president.
Alexander Rutskoy, a former Soviet general, accused Putin of “senselessly” killing tens of thousands of Russian soldiers who were used as cannon fodder during the war.
Rutskoy, who served as President Boris Yeltsin’s deputy, said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine should never have been launched.
“If the armed forces don’t have the ability to conduct strategic offensive operations, then it’s better not to try, especially outside your own country,” Rutskoy said.
Alexander Rutskoy, a former Soviet general, accused Putin of ‘senselessly’ killing tens of thousands of Russian soldiers who were used as cannon fodder during the war
He added: “Everything that is happening today is explained by the fact that our armed forces are not in a position, I emphasize, to carry out strategic offensive operations.
‘Why….? For a quarter of a century, the armed forces have been led by incompetent, absolutely incompetent people.
“The result is carnage in Ukraine where Russia has suffered losses that one estimate puts at 175,000 in less than a year,” Rutskoy said.
“It’s a tragedy for our country,” said Rutskoy, the only man to ever serve as Russia’s vice president. “It’s a tragedy, because people are dying.
“People are dying senselessly, although the slogan is ‘Defend Russia’. Where are they defending Russia? Why are they dying….? Who has the right to take a father away from his children?
“Who gave fathers and mothers the right to take sons away? No one….’
Rutskoy, who served as President Boris Yeltsin’s deputy, said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine should never have been launched. Pictured: Rutskoy (right) with Putin (center)
He referred to heavily disputed Russian claims that Britain was behind the explosions in Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea, built to transport gas to the European market.
‘Britain blew up the Nord Stream pipelines [in the Baltic],’ he claimed. “And what is the reaction? Nothing. Just bla-bla-bla.
‘Why is this happening? Because from a military point of view, we have no strategic planning. The president expresses his intentions, which do not materialize. It makes him a laughing stock.
Putin had surrounded himself with security apparatchiks and others who lack high-level military training and skills, Rutskoy said.
This includes Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu who – although he now holds the rank of army general – is not a career soldier, but a politician known for his loyalty to Putin, Rutskoy said.
His predecessor, a furniture entrepreneur, Anatoly Serdyukov was “a kind of chauffeur, a corporal and nothing more”, who was promoted because his then wife was the daughter of someone close to Putin.
Rutskoy added that key people “never ordered or directed anything.”
Ukrainian firefighters work in a burning house following Russian shelling in the city of Kherson on Sunday
He said, “Who do we have in the Security Council of the Russian Federation? Not a single person who has served in the army, not a single person who has military training.
“No one – and now they’re sitting there making decisions on how to conduct the special military operation.” Well, jokingly, it’s the same as impotent men making decisions about sexual encounters.
“What kind of sex can we talk about if you are impotent? It’s the same over there. It’s all the same.
“The Security Council of a huge country and not a single person has military expertise. Not a single person.
Rutskoy, 75, was talking to host Andrey Kovalyov on the Kovalyov Principle channel on YouTube.
He was once proclaimed acting president of Russia by the country’s parliament in a standoff with Yeltsin.
But Yeltsin replaced parliament, and Rutskoy and extremist parliamentarians were briefly imprisoned.
The nationalist politician was vice-president from 1991 to 1993 after a high-flying career in the Soviet army where he held the rank of major-general of aviation.
He was shot down three times during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan where he commanded an independent air attack regiment of the 40th Army.
Rutskoy was named a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1988. He later served as governor of the Kursk region bordering Ukraine during Putin’s presidency.
