Russian President Vladimir Putin did not spell out clear goals for the war in Ukraine during a speech to the Federal Assembly on Tuesday, but stepped up his rhetoric that the West is to blame for the war in Ukraine in an effort to buy more time for the war to continue, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said. In fact, Putin’s announcement to suspend Russia’s participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (S Arms Reduction Treaty) attracted more attention than the relatively general content of the rest of the speech, ISW notes. At the same time, Russian military bloggers classified the almost two-hour public appearance as “trivial”, and compared the head of the Kremlin to a “corpse”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, after making several controversial statements during his address to the nation on Tuesday, failed to identify the specific goals of the war in Ukraine, reports ISW.

Although Putin spoke for nearly two hours three days before the anniversary of the war, instead of presenting “new goals” for Russia’s continued offensive during his speech, the Russian leader “said very little of substance.”

Putin’s announcement of the nuclear deals attracted more attention than the relatively low-key content of the rest of the speech.

ISW believes that Russia is using nuclear rhetoric as an information operation to deter Ukraine and the West and compensate for Russia’s failures on the battlefield, and continues to believe that Moscow will not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or against NATO.

Many Russian opinion bloggers decried the fact that Putin did not use his speech to introduce new war aims, outline new measures to support the “special forces operation” or hold Russian authorities accountable for numerous military failures.

Some pro-Kremlin opinion bloggers, as well as occupation officials, attended the speech and expressed support for Putin’s view of the war as a conflict against the West, the suspension of Russia’s participation in the SNO, and support for the separatist republics of Donbas.

Other media bloggers criticized Putin’s speech, which they called trite and devoid of meaningful action.

Former Donbas separatist commander Ihor Girkin noted that Putin did not say anything significant for 40 minutes. He sidestepped Russia’s military defeats and economic decline and failed to prosecute Russian officials.

Girkin also expressed disappointment that Putin did not use his speech to formally acknowledge the war, announce his next goals or confront Western sanctions.

Another media blogger argued that the suspension of Russia’s participation in the SNO was politically symbolic, but complained that the suspension would not improve Russia’s situation on the battlefield, calling instead for Moscow to block Western military aid to Ukraine.

A third mil blogger compared Putin to a corpse and repeated Girkin’s numerous complaints about the Russian authorities’ responsibility for what is happening on the battlefield and the lack of solutions.

Other milbloggers also noted the need for decisive action and called on Russia to promote military leaders who have succeeded on the battlefield.

Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin said he did not watch Putin’s speech live because he was too busy working to supply mercenaries with ammunition to continue effective hostilities in Ukraine.

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