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In a Telegram post, Girkin listed a number of Russia's failures in Ukraine such as the "heavy" losses near the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which Girkin wrote forced Russian troops to "retreat again, leaving part of the positions previously occupied." He added that even though the battle in Bakhmut is still ongoing, Ukraine made advances while Russia has not.

The Russian TV guest continued: "The enemy is saturating the line of contact with electronic warfare and electronic suppression, as well as with reconnaissance equipment. This is also a sign that the Kyiv regime is actively preparing for counter-offensive actions. All in all, it is alarming along the entire line of contact." Later on during the segment, a TV host warned Russian troops against relaxing because Ukrainian forces are "colossal for the current times,"

Igor Girkin, a military blogger and former Russian commander, predicted Ukraine's future offensive, which he thinks might get the Russian President Valdimir Putin and his supporters "out of a state of being on the planet of pink ponies."Girkin's remarks came as part of an interview posted with English subtitles on Saturday by Twitter account user @TheKremlinYap, which posts segments of Russian state TV.

"For the [Russian] authorities and for society as a whole, today it is necessary to put a decisive end to the special military operation. The ideal option is to announce the end of the special military operation, to inform everyone that Russia has achieved the results that it planned, and in a sense we have actually achieved them," Prigozhin wrote in a blog article posted on Telegram on Friday that was shared and translated by Ukrainian news outlet Pravda.

Former U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is concerned about his own safety as his lifestyle is being impacted by his ongoing war in Ukraine. CNN host Erin Burnett asked Sullivan during a TV appearance on OutFront about whether he thinks the Russian leader's lifestyle has been affected by the war. She was referring to a recent report that said Putin is now living with his girlfriend at a luxury estate outside of Moscow. Putin's reported luxurious lifestyle has been questioned by some, given the heavy sanctions that the West imposed on Russia...

Former Russian commander Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, criticized Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, and the Kremlin's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over Moscow's recent operations in Ukraine...But he also contended that removing Prigozhin from leading Wagner was "urgently necessary." "Since his political ambitions (multiplied by psychopathy, the organization's demonstrative war crimes, a tendency to shamelessly and in many respects falsely self-promote and spread rotten 'criminal concepts' to the armed forces)...

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "scrambling" to find more troops to fight in Ukraine despite Moscow recently claiming that its forces captured the city of Soledar. Stavridis weighed in on reports that Russia is resorting to prisoners, the Wagner Group, reservists, and others to fight in Ukraine. "Putin is really scrambling...to gain the manpower, he's going to the prisons, he's going to the homeless shelters, [and] he's taking people in their 50s and 60s," he said. "I'm in my early 60s, I don't think the U.S. Army is searching for...

Retired U.S. General Mark Hertling dismissed Russia's offer to negotiate over the war in Ukraine, even after Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed readiness to discuss solutions. "On Christmas Eve Putin says he's 'ready to negotiate.' Having 'negotiated' w/ Russian military & Defense Ministry I learned lessons: Even in small things, RU officials don't negotiate...they demand, then they lie, and then they renege on agreements," Hertling tweeted Sunday.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko might be bracing for a revolt from his own military officers after they recently expressed their opposition to the Russian war in Ukraine. Senior officers from the fifth brigade of the Special Forces warned in an open letter to Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, against sending troops to fight in Ukraine, describing that such decision is "pure suicide," the Express reported Saturday. "By entering the war against Ukraine, Belarus will be evicted from the community of civilized states and will be an international outcast for many years to come," the...