Vladimir Putin ignored the first anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine because it has failed to achieve any of its objectives and his army haven’t made any territorial gains in months, analysts say.
Despite a number of public appearances in the days leading up to the milestone, there was no mention of it from the president or any of his TV propagandists on Friday.
Instead, one of Putin’s top allies, Dmitry Medvedev, was wheeled out to insist Russia will win the war and ‘push back the borders that threaten it as far as possible, even if they are the borders of Poland’.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the Kremlin has been using Medvedev, deputy chair of the powerful Security Council, ‘to deflect attention from Russia’s military failures’.
It added: ‘Medvedev’s statements highlight the fact that the Kremlin is continuing to pursue its unrealistic maximalist goals even though it has no meaningful successes to offer the Russian people after a year of costly war in Ukraine.’
The ISW said some Russian bloggers commented on the silence, with avid Kremlin critic Igor Girkin slamming Medvedev as ‘delusional’ and lamenting the fact nobody recalled the heavy Russian losses during the fight for Hostomel Airfield near Kyiv on February 24 last year.
Another favourable to the regime attempted to downplay Russia’s military failures, instead framing them as a bloody but necessary learning curve.
The ISW added: ‘The milblogger’s statements closely mirror comments made by unnamed Kremlin-affiliated officials to Financial Times who noted that Putin will try to frame Russia’s catastrophic military failures as a necessary learning experience that Russia will use to prepare for future supposed NATO aggression against Russia that Putin purportedly fears.’
Across Russia, brave anti-war demonstrators risked detention and beatings by going onto the streets on the anniversary to protest the invasion.
Some 18 people were held in Putin’s hometown of St Petersburg, including people laying flowers at the monument to Ukrainian icon Taras Shevchenko.
They were taken to a police station and told ‘Covid restrictions’ prevented them from gathering there.
Painter Elena Osipova was detained for holding a poster saying: ‘Putin is war. We don’t want to go to heaven, we don’t want to die for Putin.’
A poster next to her read: ‘No to war, no to nuclear.’
![Grocery shop owner Dmitry Skurikhin holds a poster 'Forgive [us], Ukraine' in front of his shop. The writing on the top of the wall reads: 'Peace to Ukraine, freedom to Russia'.](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SEI_145755335-9341.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024)
In Leningrad region businessman Dmitry Skurikhin, known for plastering anti-war slogans over the walls of his grocery shop, was held for a single-person protest.
He held a sign saying: ‘Ukraine, forgive [us].’
The main slogan on his store says: ‘Peace to Ukraine, Freedom to Russia.’ He already faces possible jail for ‘discrediting the army’.
In Nizhny Novgorod region, Dmitry Mochalin was detained for holding a sign saying: ‘Peace to Ukraine. Soldiers [should be] home.’
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