Temperatures were high in the studio when Russian state TV channel NTV invited him on Friday discussion about the wars in Ukraine.
In one of the panel chairs sat Boris Nadezhdin, former vice-president of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federal Assembly. An invitation that the channel may have regretted later.
Nadezhdin did not spare any money when he spoke.
– The people who convinced Putin that the special operation would be swift and effective, that it would not affect the civilian population and that the National Guard together with the Chechen forces would gain control – those people led us all astray, he said. the former politician
Life comes to you fast: Russian TV pundits realize their army is failing and their country is in trouble. They are starting to play the blame game. Some of them finally understand that their genocidal denial of Ukrainian identity is not working in Russia’s favor. pic.twitter.com/jNNn5xifI5
It was Russia Media Monitor founder Julia Davis who captured the televised debate, translated and subtitled the clip, which she posted on Twitter.
The issue was discussed, among others Danish TV 2.
– We have reached a point where we must realize that it is completely impossible to conquer Ukraine with the resources and methods of colonial warfare used by Russia; contract soldiers and mercenaries and without large-scale mobilization, Nadezhdin continued.
By this he means that Russia, unless war is declared, cannot initially send conscripts to Ukraine, unless they enlist.
The shortage of personnel – both in number and in quality – has been repeatedly highlighted as one of the major war problems of the Russians.
Nadezhdin believes this does not give them any chance in the face of Western-backed Ukrainian forces.
– There is a strong army that resists the Russian one, with the full support of the most technologically and economically powerful countries.
When asked whether the former Duma politician would have supported the general mobilization of conscripts, he replied:
– I propose to initiate peace talks to end the war and concentrate rather on political issues.
Nadezhdin’s statement comes in a context of mounting criticism of the war in the neighboring country:
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“What are we waiting for?”
The deputy chairman of the Duma, Sergey Mironov, also took part in the debate. Mironov is known as a Putin supporter and was quick to oppose his predecessor:
– It is out of the question to enter into negotiations with the Nazi Zelenskii regime – it must be destroyed, he managed to say before being interrupted by Nadezhdin:
– Either we have to declare war on a large scale or withdraw.
Mironov responded by referring to Putin’s claim that everything is going according to plan and that Russia “hasn’t even begun” in the sense that it still has a lot to give.
This triggered NTV’s political commentator Viktor Olevits who launched into the debate on Nadezhdin’s side:
– Excuse me, but what are we waiting for? You say everything is going according to plan. Someone had really predicted six months ago that we would have to withdraw from Balaklija (city in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, journ.note) and be rejected by a counter-offensive in Kharkiv?