This is interesting — maybe the dog IS wagging the tail

Top hard line Russian General publishes open letter to Putin warning him not to invade Ukraine

A top Russian general has warned Vladimir Putin not to go to war with Ukraine, accusing the leader of whipping up an 'artificial' conflict to distract from his domestic problems.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, 78, penned an open letter in which he blasted Putin's 'criminal policy of provoking a war' despite Russia not facing any 'critical threats'.

The rare outburst of internal dissent comes as Emmanuel Macron jets to the Kremlin for crisis talks with Putin, a day after the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said an invasion could come 'any day' at an 'enormous human cost'.

Ivashov, who has retired from military services but still acts as the chairman of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly and previously served as Putin's chief of military cooperation in the Ministry of Defence, fears Russia will become a 'pariah of the world community' if an invasion is launched.

The pro-Soviet general was one of the most respected and hawkish generals in the Russian MoD and was known as a hardline nationalist, making the bold policy intervention all the more extraordinary in a country where officials never break ranks.

The top military official was later fired by Putin and he has since publicly called for the Russian leader to resign.

He said: 'As for external threats, they are certainly present. But, according to our expert assessment, they are not currently critical, directly threatening the existence of Russian statehood and its vital interests.

'On the whole, strategic stability is maintained, nuclear weapons are under reliable control, NATO forces are not building up, and they are not showing threatening activity.

'Therefore, the situation that is being whipped up around Ukraine is, first of all, artificial, mercenary in nature for some internal forces, including the Russian Federation.'

He argues that Ukraine has a right to self-defence as an independent nation, and the international backlash to the annexation of Crimea 'convincingly shows the failure of Russian foreign policy'.

He continued: 'Attempts to "love" the Russian Federation and its leadership through an ultimatum and threats of the use of force are senseless and extremely dangerous. 

'The use of military force against Ukraine, firstly, will call into question the existence of Russia itself as a state; secondly, it will forever make Russians and Ukrainians mortal enemies. 

'Thirdly, there will be tens of thousands of dead young, healthy men on one side and on the other, which will certainly affect the future demographic situation in our dying countries. 

'On the battlefield, if this happens, Russian troops will face not only Ukrainian military personnel, among whom there will be many Russian guys, but also military personnel and equipment from many NATO countries, and the member states of the alliance will be obliged to declare war on Russia.'

What’s also interesting is that in attempting to find a second source for this story, a search of “Russian general warns Putin” turned up nothing on mainstream media sites. Surely this would be, in a sense, good news for the Biden administration because it backs up its hawks’, claims and the media should be all over it but … nothing. So what gives? Mungo have pain between his ears.