Putin's Top Ally Says War In Ukraine Is Slower Than Expected

Head of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov at a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the Presidential Council for Physical Culture and Sports in Krasnodar, Russia, May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Sergey Karpukhin

LONDON, March 14 – One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies has said Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has not gone as fast as the Kremlin wanted, in Moscow’s strongest admission that an invasion is not planned.

Viktor Zolotov, chief of Russia’s national guard and a member of Putin’s security council, said progress was slower than expected and blamed what he called far-right Ukrainian forces hiding behind civilians.

“I want to say that yes, not everything is going as fast as we would like,” Zolotov said in comments on the National Guard website.

“But we are moving towards our goal step by step, and victory will be ours.”

The United States and its European allies have called Putin’s invasion an imperial-style land grab that has so far been poorly executed because Moscow underestimated Ukrainian resistance.

Ukraine, which says it is fighting for its survival, denies Russian claims that its forces have used civilians as a shield in combat and accuses Moscow of war crimes for killing civilians.

Zolotov has been on Putin’s side since the turn of the century, leading the Kremlin leader’s bodyguards for 13 years. Since 2016, he has headed the National Guard, which reports directly to Putin and deploys troops in Ukraine.

His comments, made at a church service led by Orthodox Patriarch Kirill on Sunday, are at odds with those of the Kremlin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who say the Russian operation in Ukraine will be completed on time and in full.

The Kremlin said on Monday that the operation was planned, but that its army could change tactics and try to seize full control of major cities. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia tried not to attack civilians. More

Peskov said claims by the United States and the European Union that Putin was somehow frustrated with the progress of what the Kremlin calls a special military operation amounted to a provocation aimed at inciting Russia to storm cities.

“All the plans of the Russian leadership will be implemented on time and in full,” Peskov said about Ukraine.

VETERAN INSIDER

Zolotov is a seasoned Kremlin insider who provided KGB security for communist leaders in the Soviet Union and was photographed on a tank outside the White House in Russia during the collapse of the USSR when Boris Yeltsin faced a brutal coup in 1991.

According to the TASS biography, he headed the presidential security service from 2000 to 2013. The National Guard is a kind of internal military force, which includes OMON and other units.

At a meeting of the Russian Security Council three days before the invasion, Zolotov was the most outspoken of the members when asked to give his opinion on what Russia should do.

He recommended that Putin recognize Ukraine’s two Russian-backed rebel regions, but added one more piece of advice.

“We must go further to protect our country,” Zolotov said. This was the last word of the meeting.

Reuters message; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Frank Jack Daniel

Our Standards: Trust Principles.