During his annual press conference held Dec. 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time that Russian military personnel have taken part in operations in war torn eastern Ukraine.
Pressed by Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk to explain the capture of two intelligence operatives – Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, both of whom have identified themselves as active members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence services – Putin admitted that Moscow had deployed military specialists to the Donbas region.
“We never said we didn’t have people there working on certain tasks, including in the military sphere,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean there are regular Russian forces there. Understand the difference.”
Since the outbreak of hostilities in April 2014, Putin has steadfastly repudiated all accusations that Moscow has deployed regular troops to eastern Ukraine or that Russia has had any direct military role in the conflict. He has instead insisted that Russian citizens involved in the war were simply “volunteers.”
The sudden about face appeared to contradict Putin’s own remarks made in April, where he adamantly denied that regular Russian military forces had played a part in the war.
“I will say this clearly. There are no Russian troops in Ukraine,” Putin said at the time.
The most recent revelation follows Putin’s previous habit of consistently denying Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, only to later admit Moscow’s leading role in the conflict.
Following the March 2014 annexation of Crimea, Putin was unwavering in his insistence that the groups of highly professional troops in unmarked uniforms, popularly known as “little green men,” were local self-defense battalions.
Putin later conceded that the units in question were, in fact, members of the GRU’s 45th Spetsnaz regiment and 22nd Spetsnaz brigade.
It remains unclear as to the type of military specialists Putin was referring to during the Dec. 17 press conference.
Substantial evidence of Russia’s active role in the conflict has grown in the last year, including widely believed proof that crack mechanized units took active parts in major engagements in Ilovaisk and Debaltseve in Donetsk Oblast. .The marathon press conference also saw Putin disparage the appointment of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, as governor of Ukraine’s strategic Odesa Oblast.
“In my opinion, this is spitting in the face of the Ukrainian people. Not only did they (the government) place Ukraine under external control, but also delegated power to so-called ‘political figures’,” Putin told reporters.
Putin hinted that the United States had engineered Saakashvili’s transfer to Ukraine as part of a wider scheme to wield control over the country.
“Putting Ukraine under some sort of outside governance seemed insufficient to them (Americans). They instead chose to delegate it to others. I believe Saakashvili was refused a working visa to the US, so they chose to send him to Ukraine — to manage him. Now he’s actively functioning there,” he said. “Ukrainians were told, ‘We won’t only be managing you, but we’ll also send over people from more civilized countries… to manage you. We’ll give key positions to them in the financial sector, the economy and so forth, because you [the Ukrainian people] are incompetent.”
Putin reserved his most scathing comments for Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who Putin accuses of presiding over the Islamization of the secular republic — after it downed a Russian jet bomber last month following reports that the plane had violated Turkish airspace.
“Did someone in the Turkish leadership decide to lick the Americans in a particular place? I’m not sure they did, or even if the Americans wanted that,” said Putin.
“Did they think we’d suddenly run from Syria? Russia is not that kind of country! We’ve actually increased our presence and the size of our air contingent,” he added.
When pressed about corruption allegations against Russia’s prosecutor general, Yuri Chaika, Putin demurred, only saying the situation would be looked into.
This year’s installment of Putin’s annual press conferences clocked in at just over three hours, significantly shorter than in previous years where the Russian president has been known to answer journalists’ questions for up to five hours.
U.S. freelance journalist Nicholas Waller can be reached at [email protected].
