Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine began on February 24 of this year. Putin claimed he was forced into the war in order to protect the pro-Russian portions of eastern Ukraine and to stop the corrupt, pro-Nazi government in Kiev led by Volodymyr Zelensky.
Since that time, an estimated 30,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed. 50,000 to 70,000 Russian troops have also lost their lives. More than 5,580 Ukrainian civilians were likewise killed and over 7,500 have been injured.
Millions of Ukrainians are now refugees in Poland and other nations as the war continues to rage.
Whereas in the midst of this chaos and bloodshed, Putin and his inner circle have been mostly hiding away. Their kids aren’t fighting and dying; their bank accounts aren’t empty.
Now only days after announcing a partial draft across his nation, Putin is taking a page from the Biden playbook.
He’s going on vacation.
Putin Hides Out at One of His Rural Palaces
You know that feeling when you start a massive war, but then it’s all getting just a bit too stressful, so you decide to take a breather and go on vacation? Me either!
Putin knows it. The Russian despot is hiding away at a palace he owns on the coast of the Black Sea.
Protests against his mobilization order have been increasing in Russia as people are drafted in the metro and elsewhere randomly. Those who attend protests are also often the first to be forced into the military to go fight in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, PMCs (Private Military Contractors) like the Wagner Group have been offering freedom to convicts in jail if they go fight in Ukraine. A Russian mob boss serving 23 years for homicide was recently killed in the conflict after having taken up the mercenary outfit on its offer.
As the war in Ukraine continues to be a very drawn-out and horrible endeavor, the draft is intended to tap into Russia’s two-million army reserves and make ordinary citizens able to be called up to serve from a current pool of 300,000 reservists.
Now, Putin is resting up as it all becomes quite stressful. When I say that he’s hiding out at a palace, I mean a palace.
From the start of the war, Putin has been hiding in his palace bunker. He won’t even meet his own people. The all-action, bare-chested Judo hero cowers while he sends thousands of his own to their deaths and to murder thousands more Ukrainians. One of history’s great cowards.
— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) September 22, 2022
Putin’s Palace at Gelendzhik
The palace is located in a place near Gelendzhik near the Black Sea and is extremely lavish.
It’s including a private church, a special wine-tasting cellar, a movie theater, a deluxe gymnasium to get in some reps, a hockey arena, a large swimming pool, a special disco dance hall, and a spa to get pampered.
While young Russians are getting their bodies torn up, Putin and his pals can get manicures. That is literally the Russia of 2022. But it’s not as much of a diversion from history as some might think.
After all, Tsar (King) Nicholas II ended up partly causing the Russian Revolution and the bloody Soviet takeover. He kept hiding out at his deluxe country estate while millions of Russians died on the frontlines of World War One and the country slid into chaos.
Instead of addressing it, the tsar simply tried to hide from it. The result was civil war.
Putin 'vanishes to his secret forest palace' amid anti-war demos in Moscow https://t.co/mKTRYj72UY
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) September 24, 2022
The Bottom Line
Many Russians have been trying to ignore the awful war and get on with their lives.
By announcing a draft and tapping into huge amounts of reserves, Putin made the war priority number one for every Russian.
Now, he’s hanging out at his swimming pool while they go off to die? This isn’t going to go over well.
This article appeared in StatesmanPost and has been published here with permission.
