Member-only story
Mission Accomplished: Russia Declares Ukraine ‘Demilitarized’
As the Ukrainian army makes gains, the Kremlin sees things differently
As Russia’s elites shake off their hangovers after the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), some will be convinced that something magical happened under the silvery skies of the St. Petersburg summer night: Could the war in Ukraine soon be ending?
After Putin’s rambling three-hour bore-fest on Friday, the Kremlin spokesman (personal wealth in the hundreds of millions despite being just a lowly press secretary for the past two decades), Dmitry Peskov, had the honor of making the long-awaited announcement.
“Indeed, Ukraine was heavily militarized at the time of the beginning of its [special military operation, as the Russian Federation calls the war against Ukraine — ed.]. And, as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said yesterday [Friday, June 16], one of the tasks was to demilitarise Ukraine (Kremlin Decides that Goal).
It seems, however, that because so many were sleeping with their eyes open including Putin, the bridge from reality to the land of make-believe wasn’t fully constructed by Russia’s fearless leader.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian dictator, has said that the task of the aggressor…