"Shock And Outrage In The Kremlin."

• 18.06.2025, 14:39

Putin is being asked to do what he is not yet capable of doing.

In the wake of Operation Web, Russian hawks may increase pressure on the Kremlin to declare war on Ukraine. They hope to increase mobilization in Russia and also want to justify the brutal bombing of peaceful Ukrainian cities, according to an article by The Telegraph.

Russian sources interviewed by the publication said there was "shock and outrage" in the Kremlin after Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian strategic bombers. Some told reporters they took the strikes as a personal tragedy. Others demanded that Russian speaker Vladimir Putin "declare war" on Ukraine instead of the so-called "SWO" there.

"There is a growing conviction among Russia's hardline nationalist elite that Putin has not gone far enough, that he should formally declare war, recruit another million people and destroy the government of Vladimir Zelensky with daily missile strikes on Kiev," the article said.

The journalists conclude that Russian "hawks," that is, supporters of a tougher war, believe that a formal declaration of war will allow for escalation - daily strikes with intercontinental missiles and possibly the use of tactical nuclear weapons. They also count on a mass mobilization in which Russia could call up to 2 million reservists.

The Telegraph asked its insiders whether Operation Web could prompt Putin to listen to the hawks.

One former Kremlin official who was head of various operations against Ukraine said that Web was not the cause of political discussions or a review of the format of military operations. And a source at a near-war think tank said Putin was unlikely to be ready to declare war on Kiev because the current situation was "completely satisfactory" to him. Another source said that Russia fears continued sabotage by Ukraine.