POLITICS

When the military expresses dissatisfaction with the regime

June 20, 2022
A video appeal to President Putin reveals the maximalist mindset of high-ranking army officers wishing to use the war to deeply transform Russian society and state and restore the Soviet borders.
An Appeal from the All-Russian Officers Assembly. Vladimir Kvachkov is a video that appeared on the ultra-conservative Stalingrad YouTube channel. On behalf of the Council, GRU colonel Vladimir Kvachkov puts forward a number of proposals addressed to President Putin, Patriarch Kirill and other high-ranking Russian officials to accomplish military objectives in Ukraine.

The measures proposed are supposed to lead Russia to victory in the war and help the “great God-bearing nation” to persevere in the struggle against the “Western satanic liberal-globalist capitalist and deceitful world.” The Council believes that the “special military operation” in Ukraine has failed and a full-scale World War III has begun, hence the current actions of the government like negotiating with the “Banderites” and retreating from “liberated territories” near Kyiv represent betrayal and treason.

Kvachkov lists the measures necessary to save the “Russian world.” They include introducing the death penalty during wartime and martial law across Russia and all the “liberated” territories in Ukraine, creating a State Defense Committee (GKO) with full power to conduct military operations, and declaring a partial mobilization in order to wage war on three fronts in Ukraine, and reaching the borders of the former Soviet Union. In addition, to strengthen Russia’s defense capabilities, the Council proposes introducing a two-year term of military service for Russian citizens with biannual drafts.

The Council also proposes a radical reform of the country’s financial system in which all banks would be nationalized and put under control of the GKO. The nationalized banks would then be forced to write off the debts and loans of all Russian war combatants. A state monopoly on foreign trade is also proposed, as well as a ban on foreign currency, the confiscation of NATO countries’ property and the reversion of privatized enterprises to public ownership. Refusal to cooperate would be considered criminal omission in wartime.

It’s worth noting that the Stalingrad YouTube channel states that though it shares the officers’ concern for the future of Russia, its position is fundamentally different and considers the appeal to Russia’s leaders a mistake.

Digest written by the Russia.Post editorial team.
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