Last week, publications in the occupied Donbas began tentatively raising the topic of the need to "freeze" russian aggression against Ukraine. Naturally, the discussion was about the need to stop, rest, replenish reserves and strike with renewed force.
War, freeze! One, two...
One of the first to raise this issue was russian propagandist Dmitry Steshin. Analyzing the course of hostilities in the Donetsk oblast, he unequivocally stated that "if there is a political possibility to stop and freeze the armed conflict without encroaching on the interests of Russia and the Russian people, then it should be done. If someone thinks otherwise, let them come here and continue fighting".
His interview with one of the russian publications was actively reprinted by many separatist bloggers and "war correspondents". "There are those who believe that we should continue to press on until the end. But let's be frank, we can see from the configuration of the front line and the course of the hostilities that we are not really able to press on at the moment. Perhaps this is a tactical move - to grind down the entire Ukrainian army in the trenches. But for some reason, I don't really believe in that. I believe that we have not yet fully prepared for the type of hostilities that are currently taking place. Of course, everyone understands that a pause in hostilities now will be beneficial for Ukraine, the West and us", - he said, "discrediting" not only the russian army, but also the victorious narratives of the occupiers.
"Perhaps now we will come to negotiations... We are waiting for the development of events on the external political front", - he predicts.
Local propagandists actively supported the russian "big brother". For example, a certain "war correspondent" Maxim Fomin, under the pseudonym Vladlen Tatarsky, laments that "it is easy to have a high fighting spirit when you are moving forward. But when you storm the same fortified area for the 10th time and all those with whom you started serving lie around in pieces, then the fighting spirit of any unit will disappear".
He admitted that the russian occupying forces suffered serious losses in the battles for Donbas. "The fortified areas are stormed not by well trained special forces or SOF, but by the mobilized infantry. Half of them were just drinking while training and did nothing, the other half were simply taught how to handle weapons and sent into battle", - he assesses the military potential of the "second best army in the world".
"There is no one left to go on the assault. The Corps units (illegal armed groups, which were created under the kremlin’s patronage in the occupied Donbas) ran out a long time ago. The mobilized ones in the LDNR have also run out, but the war has not ended. Men from Orenburg, Perm, Irkutsk and other cities have yet to go into battle. Not everyone is motivated", - he "cheered up" the russian mobilized soldiers.
The creator of the Vostok terrorist battalion Alexander Khodakovsky developed this idea. He even went as far as becoming a "dissident" and admitted that he did not think such a terrible war would come to Donbas. "During the days of 'doubts and gloomy reflections' about the fate of those territories during the pre-annexation period, the desirable sequence of further events for me was as follows: Russia recognizes us, introduces a limited contingent for our protection and freezes. There will be cries of indignation, public actions, sanctions and stuff like that, but the republics will breathe a sigh of relief, and Ukraine will be put in a stalemate: to start the war first or to resent loudly", - he wrote on his social media.
"No one wanted revenge, death or destruction", - hypocritically declares one of the supporters of the russian invasion.
"But how often do our plans come true? Especially the plans that we do not control... The decisions that were made cannot be changed. The consequences that followed were extended, and we must accept that", - he writes.
The reality that needs to be accepted is not very pleasant in his opinion. "Our front clearly illustrates the law of conservation of energy, as interpreted by Lomonosov: nothing comes from nowhere and disappears nowhere. It seems that on the direction where they talked the most about the ammunition hunger, the situation has calmed down, but it has worsened in other directions where there is no one to complain loudly. We are like chicks in a nest: whoever shouts the loudest and stretches their neck higher than others, gets more", - he says, claiming that there are too few shells for artillery work.
In this situation, he also suggests "freezing" the hostilities and waiting for the occupiers' army to accumulate enough ammunition to destroy everything in its path.
"And if there are no shells, or the state of artillery does not allow to plow the defenses (of the defenders of Ukraine - OstroV) as needed?", - he asks a rhetorical question and answers it himself. "Do not advance where the artillery has not worked effectively! I repeat: do not launch an offensive!!!!!!! Nobody's medal or star on their uniform is worth the losses suffered. Attack only after you’re confident that the artillery and aviation will perform their task qualitatively and quantitatively".
"Looking back, we see only ruins..."
By the way, about accomplishing the task when there are enough shells and missiles. Or rather, about its cost... The consequences of the "liberation campaign" of the russian army were well shown by the aforementioned russian propagandist Dmitry Steshin, known in the social media as "Russian Tarantass". "I managed to see Soledar, but it would be better if I haven’t seen it. Little was left of the city, less than of Mariupol. There were no civilians left in this city, and there is nowhere for them to return to. And, judging by the roar of the artillery, the same fate awaited Bakhmut", - he writes.
His horror at what he saw could be taken at face value if he had not continued his story in the context of imperial logic. In his opinion, those who defend these cities from the russian horde are to blame for the total destruction of Donbas and the deaths of its inhabitants, not those who attacked and launched thousands of shells and tons of bombs at peaceful cities. "Perhaps I realized the essence of the Banderite plan for the first time. Ukraine, as an ethno-political construct, had no connection to these cities. And at the same time, it could not take them with it or give them to those who have the right of ownership. Therefore, Ukraine decided to destroy them through senseless resistance", - said Steshin, pretending that to him, a mouthpiece of the kremlin, the integral territories of sovereign Ukraine "belong by right".
"After our victory, we will be left with only scorched land and hatred towards those who did it", - the propagandist is confident that the people of Donbas will never guess who destroyed their cities for real.
The review was prepared by Yuriy Bovkh, OstroV