Russian television pundits are asking President Vladimir Putin to end his two-week invasion of Ukraine.
State TV pundit Karen Shakhnazarov said Russia should “stop our military action,” citing a growing number of sanctions against the country and a shift in the public’s view of the country.
Shakhnazarov said there will be unemployment and scarcity resulting from the sanctions and that a change in the public’s view of Russia could lead to “the possibility of a full destabilization of the country and a civil war,” according to a Daily Beast report published Thursday.
“If this picture starts to transform into an absolute humanitarian disaster, even our close allies like China and India will be forced to distance themselves from us,” Shakhnazarov stated. “This public opinion, with which they’re saturating the entire world, can play out badly for us. … Ending this operation will stabilize things within the country.”
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Guests on the Russian TV show The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev expressed similar concerns. Andrey Sidorov, deputy dean of world politics at Moscow State University, warned that Russia is facing a “very difficult” time. Russia is more integrated into the global economy than the Soviet Union was, making the country “more dependent on imports,” Sidorov added.
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Last week, the Moscow Times reported that stores would begin limiting the purchase of essential foodstuffs, per the Russian government, amid a growing list of sanctions against Russia by other countries and companies bailing on Russia in protest of the war.
A senior U.S. defense official claimed Thursday that Russian forces have made incremental progress in their efforts to take Kyiv, Ukraine‘s capital. The official told reporters the Pentagon assessed that Russian troops have moved about 3 miles closer to the city center in the past day, after essentially being stalled for days.
