Russian hardliners are urging President Vladimir Putin to officially declare war on Ukraine, arguing that the current “special military operation” is insufficient, especially in the wake Ukraine’s recent surprise strike on air bases near Moscow. President Zelensky had touted last month’s ‘Operation Spider’s Web’ as a huge success, and an unknown number of long-range strategic bombers, valuable assets in Russia’s air force, were reportedly destroyed.
Although the conflict has entered its fourth year since Russia’s invasion, it still has never been formally recognized as a war, despite estimates of casualties in the hundreds of thousands on both sides. Kremlin officials have at times used language denoting all-out ‘war’, but the Kremlin still classified it as a ‘special military operation’ – which is a very limited designation in Russian law.
Members of Russia’s nationalist elite are calling for more drastic measures, evident also on popular Russian military blog and social media channels.
Kremlin insiders, speaking anonymously to The Telegraph, expressed concern that failing to escalate could lead to even greater risks for Russia – as NATO has very obviously grown…
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