Russia’s Vladimir Putin has released an embarrassing video of himself dressed up as a soldier in an apparent bid to win back Donald Trump as Ukraine increasingly turns the tables on his war.
The 73-year-old Russian leader appeared, at times, visibly nervous in the video released by the Kremlin on Friday evening, Washington time, apparently timed to capture the attention of Western audiences. Putin was shown walking into an auxiliary command post to meet with the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in a scene that seemed staged for state TV cameras.
Strangest of all, perhaps, was the fact that the Russian leader was wearing a military uniform—a move that Kremlin-controlled media rushed to portray as a sign of his resolve to “finish off the terrorist neo-Nazi vermin” in Ukraine, as Russia’s Foreign Ministry put it. To others, though, it reeked of desperation, coming, as it did, amid growing public outrage among Russians over gasoline shortages and after a string of humiliating Ukrainian drone attacks deep within Russian territory.
The latest such strike hit an oil terminal in St. Petersburg even as footage circulated of Putin cosplaying as a soldier.
Putin has vowed to continue his war despite mounting signs that it will not end in Moscow’s favor, but behind the scenes, he has given every indication that he’s spooked. A $100 million superyacht believed to be owned by the Russian president has been spotted fleeing Europe under military escort, apparently to avoid Ukrainian drone attacks. Days earlier, satellite imagery published by Radio Liberty revealed that the Kremlin had installed an anti-aircraft missile system near the workplace of Putin’s daughter in Moscow amid a barrage of Ukrainian drone attacks.
The salt in the wound is that Trump, who had initially urged Kyiv to give in to Moscow’s demands to end the war, has apparently lost interest. Sources close to the Kremlin told The New York Times this week the Russians are “desperately waiting” for Trump’s envoys to return to Moscow for the next round of talks.
In the meantime, Putin has refused to give up on the American president he affectionately calls “Donald.” Asked by a Kremlin pool reporter late last month if he believed Trump had shifted his support to Ukraine in the war, he said that was “not possible” because Trump was too much of a “mature politician.”
But just to be on the safe side, perhaps, Putin is pulling out all the stops to remind Trump of the bond they once shared. In a first for the Kremlin, the Russian president’s Fourth of July message to the American leader was published online, revealing his use of informal language not typically used with other world leaders to remind Trump that “Russia and the United States—as the two largest nuclear powers—bear a special responsibility for ensuring security and stability on a global scale.”
“I wish you, Donald, and your loved ones health, well-being, and success, and all American citizens—happiness and prosperity,” he said.
Putin also seems determined to convince Trump that he has the upper hand in the war, declaring in the video released by the Kremlin on Friday that Moscow has taken control of a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is “undoubtedly the key to liberating the entire territory.”
There has been no independent verification of Russian forces seizing control of the city, Kostiantynivka, and authorities in Kyiv were quick to call BS on Putin’s claims. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even challenged Putin to meet him in the city, saying he should have “no problem” doing so if Russian forces have control.
The Kremlin immediately declined the offer.
