Is Putin now beginning to stare defeat in the face?

Putin's constant exhortations about the 'unstoppable' hypersonic capability of Russia's missiles  could be revealing that his invading army is seriously flagging in Ukraine.

At his recent speech to his Navy in illegally-occupied Ukraine's Crimea, David Averre (left) reports that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised his navy it will be equipped with devastating hypersonic 'Zircon' missiles in the coming months as fighting continues to rage in Ukraine and tensions escalate with the West.
...
Speaking on Russia's Navy Day aboard a vessel in St Petersburg, Putin praised Russian Tsar Peter the Great for making Russia a great sea power, and boasted of the unique capability of the hypersonic weapons. (Daily Mail : 31 July 2022) (my emphasis) (cf also: Guy Faulconbridge and William Maclean : Reuters : 31 July 2022)

Sky News : YouTube : 31 Juy 2022

And as he was boasting about his Zircon missile's capabilities, John Bacon, Jeanine Santucci and Jorge L. Ortiz report that,

"A drone attack at the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet wounded six people and shut down a festival marking Navy Day in the Crimean peninsula city of Sevastopol, the mayor said Sunday.
...
The Black Sea Fleet’s press service said the drone appeared to be homemade and described the explosive device as “low-power." Crimean authorities raised the terrorism threat level for the region to “yellow,” the second-highest tier." (Yahoo News : 31 July 2022) (my emphasis)

Hindustan Times : YouTube : 1 August 2022

Even more disconcerting for Putin is the fact that, as reported by Malay Mail,

"Russia is “running out of steam” in its assault on Ukraine, the chief of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence agency, Richard Moore (left), said in a brief comment on social media on Saturday.
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Moore made the remark “Running out of steam...” above an earlier post on Twitter by Britain’s defence ministry, which described the Russian government as “growing desperate” and as having lost thousands of soldiers in its invasion of Ukraine. — Reuters" (Malay Mail : 30 July 2022) (my emphasis) (cf. Also: Charles Kupchan : Times Radio : YouTube : 29 July 2022)

UK Ministry of Defence Tweet : 29 July 2022

It would seem that it is not only Putin's army which is running out of steam.

Earlier, as reported by Asher McShane (left),

"Vladimir Putin has been filmed twitching and visibly uncomfortable with his legs shaking has speculation continues over his health." (LBC : 20 July 2022) (my emphasis) 

More recently (31 July 2022), as reported by Ansar News,

"President Vladimir Putin, 69, was filmed limping while he was given a tour of a military museum as part of a weekend of festivities marking Russia’s Navy Day. The Kremlin leader was also seen struggling to swat away flies from his face using his left arm while his right hung limply at his side. The video is one of many that have brought into question the health of the leader." (Ansar News : 31 july 2022) (my emphasis) (cf also : Daily Mail : 31 July 2022)

Will Stewart, Walter Finch, and Elizabeth Elkind: Daily Mail : 31 July 2022

However, we now have the EU, yet again, vaccillating over its support for Ukraine.

On the one hand, as reported by Euronews,

"– European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell (left) on Friday condemned the atrocities committed by Russian armed forces and their proxies in Ukraine.

“The European Union actively supports all measures to ensure accountability for human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law committed during the Russian aggression in Ukraine,” Borrell said in a statement." (Euronews : 30 July 2022) (my emphasis) 

And on the other hand, as Autumn approaches and Putin continues to limit the flow of gas through Nord Steam1 to the EU, Firstpost exposes the three critical concessions that the EU has made towards Putin.

"In the past week, the European Union has given three big concessions to Russia. Slowly, Europe seems to be withdrawing its harsh sanctions against Russia. Why is that the case? Has Vladimir Putin demonstrated his ability to cripple Europe’s energy security if the EU treats Moscow antagonistically?" (Firstpost : YouTube: 26 July 2022) (my emphasis)

• Kaliningrad transit ban reversed
• Withdrawal of sanctions on Russian oil
• Russian Banks assets unfrozen

 

Many EU countries are now gazing with horror at the effect of rising oil and gas prices on their economies, thanks to Putin's war with Ukraine.

 

Further afield, countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, are suffering because of the active blockade by Putin of grain and oil exports from Ukraine, nothwithstanding, as reported by Megan Durisin, Aine Quinn, and Onur Ant that,

 

"Russia and Ukraine reached a deal aimed at releasing millions of tons of grain through Ukraine’s Black Sea ports that, if implemented, would mark a vital step toward shoring up global food supplies." (Bloomberg : 22 July 2022) (my emphasis) 

Hardly had the ink dried on this deal when, as reported by European Forum,

 

"Optimism has been dampened shortly after an UN-approved grain deal between Ukraine and Russia was signed on July 22. The deal brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was to be an important step towards easing the global food crisis. Only a day later, Western leaders cried foul as Ukraine’s main wheat export hub was hit by Russian missiles. It came together with Russia announcing its EU gas exports would be lowered, something European leaders feared." (European Forum : 27 July 2022) (my emphasis)

Mark Trevelyn : MSN (Reuters) : 1 August 2022

 

Putin knows that any concessions he may make to ease the export of grain and cooking oil from Ukraine will rebound on him, especially amongst his ardent supporters in Russia.

 

Is Putin now beginning to stare defeat in the face?
 

(to be continued)