Putin is looking for scapegoats for the failure to provide for the army
Putin publicly criticized Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denys Manturov for not fulfilling state orders of aviation industry enterprises at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The head of the Kremlin said that some enterprises have not yet received state orders for 2023 and are not ready to increase production volumes for potential orders.
Analysts believe the incident is likely part of an ongoing Kremlin information campaign aimed at boosting Putin’s image as a wartime leader.
The Kremlin could cut the criticism from its official transcript, but it is better to broadcast Putin’s sharp response to the public, perhaps in order to name other officials in the Kremlin new to the problems, experts say.
Putin is also likely trying to assuage criticism from Russian military bloggers about the lack of modern technology and Russia’s inability to challenge its defense industrial base to meet military needs.
As a reminder, the Ministry of Defense of Russia appointed a new commander of the occupation forces in Ukraine. He became the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Gerasimov Valery Vasyliovych.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security Council, said that the new appointment shows that Russia is raising the stakes in the war.
Read urgent and important messages about Russia’s war against Ukraine on the channel RBC-Ukraine in Telegram.