Answering a question from the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg about the possibility of military escalation, Putin vowed, “there won’t be new special military operations if you treat us with respect and take our interests into account.”
To Russians: Lean in
It wasn’t all foreign policy. Putin also set aside time to address Russians’ financial concerns amid a slowing economy and high inflation, as the Kremlin is drowning its defense sector in cash.
Rattling off statistics, he insisted there was no cause for concern, praising “deliberate action” taken by the country’s financial institutions to stabilize the economy.
Meanwhile, he claimed, Russians were signing up to fight in droves. “There are very young boys, university students, who are taking a sabbatical to sign a contract [with the army], and to take part in combat operations,” he said.
In reality, Russia has suffered an estimated 1 million casualties in the war, and those who were mobilized in the fall of 2022 have yet to be released, suggesting the authorities are struggling to fill the ranks.
But Putin “is not concerned about the cost of continuing the ‘special military operation,’ whether financial, human, or psychological,” said Kolesnikov, the Moscow-based analyst.
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