Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea on Saturday to celebrate the ninth anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine despite being issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday over alleged war crimes in the Eastern European country.
Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, posted a video to Twitter of Putin, claiming that the Russian leader was “visibly limping” during his visit.
Putin’s health has been questioned in recent months, with armchair diagnoses of the Russian leader gaining traction since the war began last year. In the past, social media users and analysts have tried to interpret footage that showed him apparently limping across Red Square, clinging to his desk, and displaying a listless right arm.
Looked like a fairly subtle limping to me… and his arm was moving well. Makes me suspect the “news” is perhaps merely projecting a wish.
Rob
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
The ICC decision issued on Friday means that the court’s 123 member states would have to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague, Netherlands, for trial if he sets foot on their territory. However, with 193 member states of the United Nations, there are still 70 countries that would not come under the aegis of the ICC ban.
Believe it or not… the Fool profanity filter wouldn’t let me use a word… which I modified with an -ing to be limping. LOL
Rob
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Yeah, looks a bit gimpy, but not exaggerated limping like Chester on Gunsmoke.
Yes, I also used that four-letter word and failed to post it, as the profanity filter won’t allow l-i-m-p.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, said in recent remarks that the search comes as “the circle around Putin is narrowing.” Putin is becoming “more and more toxic,” even within Russian borders, according to Yusov.
“Within the Kremlin, there is more and more dissatisfaction with what is happening,” Yusov said. “There is an increasingly gloomy understanding of the prospects, specifically the geopolitical catastrophe of the Putin regime. Thus, the search for Putin’s successor is already underway.”
Maybe just uninformed rumor at this point, but eventually he’ll be gone. I wonder what his replacement will be like. The “smart people” seem to think Russia has little choice but to be aggressive in order to push their borders to areas that are more defensible against invaders.
Not sure if I buy that.
Rob
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Putin was in Mariupol this weekend. I would love to have been privy to his meets with military leaders there.
My feelings and knowledge gleaned from numerous youtube acounts at this moment:
Bakhmut is not going to fall to the Russians. I’ll bet on that right here and now. All this new hardware racing to the Ukrainians at the front is going to reduce the cannon fodder to motes of dust. I predict thousands more Russians will surrender and give their heavy weapons to the Ukrainians.
The Ukrainians are amped to 11. These guys are going to take back all annexed territory and any Russian not surrendering will meet a horrible death in a land they did not want to invade and become active combatants for over a year.
The Wagner Group had better surrender like the Russian military is doing by the thousands. (Now up to 10,000 surrendered Russians and Russian separatists being checked on by UN observers.)
Ukraine has most definitely won the intel war and the social media wars, two things the Russians were once best at and which they show they no longer have the manpower to monitor and add to their Disinformation campaigns.
Yevgeny Prigozhin will be the fall guy. And then Putin will demote or disappear certain military leaders – unless they sideline him first.
I’m paying attention to about 6 four-star generals from America who say Putin is done, and these guys have American intel supplied by a newer, better drone over the Black Sea (made by Northup Grumman.)
All kinds of breaking news and Ukrainian Troop Journalists giving us drone videos and helmet cams showing Russian troops surrendering en masse, leaving their tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers flying white flags.
Putin in Mariupol means has to be freaking inside, not believing the growing protests and dissension at home, and not believing the intel his Generals are passing on about the Ukraine mess. Put that lil’ SOB in a camo uniform, hand him a shovel, and point him to the front. Let’s see how long he’ll last. My bet is the first bullet would be to his back from a Russian soldier.
Here’s another spitball thought: The Ukrainian program for surrendering is now on Telegram, the Russians fave way of communicating on a social media. Telegram has not removed these posts. Ukraine operatives have invaded Telegram to combat the misinformation and disinformation of Russian operatives.