As Ukrainian troops continue to advance it is thought that Russian President Vladimir Putin has cancelled all his meetings and fled Moscow to the safety of his mansion in Sochi.
According to the Moscow Times today, Monday, September 12, Russian president Vladimir Putin is believed to have cancelled all meetings with his military staff. He has allegedly retreated to the safety of his mansion in the Black Sea city of Sochi.
This comes barely hours after the Ukrainian military broke through the frontline in Kharkiv. Russian forces had bombarded the region mercilessly yesterday, Sunday, September 11, resulting in power stations being hit and several big cities losing their operational infrastructures.
Amid a large counteroffensive, Ukrainian armed forces claimed today that they had recaptured more than 20 settlements in the past 24 hours. In response to this success, strikes have been carried out in areas of northeastern Ukraine that Kyiv’s forces recaptured in recent days announced the Russian Defence Ministry today.
The Moscow Times also reported that a deputy from the city of St Petersburg last week called on Putin to stand down. This allegedly led to more deputies calling for him to be tried by the State Duma on charges of treason over his invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Meduza website on Sunday, planned referendums to let residents of the pro-Russian territories vote on becoming a part of Russia have apparently been put on hold indefinitely by the Kremlin in light of the current situation in Ukraine. It cited unnamed sources close to the Kremlin.
These polls were due to be held on November 4 – Russia’s Day of National Unity – to let people in the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR regions vote on ‘joining Russia’. It was also planned to do the same with the occupied Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kherson.
It was thought that the polls were since being moved forward by the Russian-installed authorities, in order to conduct them as soon as possible, but the plans have now been shelved according to sources of Meduza.
Political technologists who were working in the Kharkiv region have already been recalled to Moscow said Meduza. The only logical reason for this is the recent success of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the region said Meduza. “Nobody talks of November anymore”, they added.
