Putin Compared to Mummy by Russian Ex-Commander: 'Is There Putin at All?'

Military blogger Igor Girkin made a reference to ancient Egypt in his latest criticism of Vladimir Putin, condemning the Russian president as a passive wartime leader and comparing him to a mummy.

Girkin, also known as Strelkov, was a former commander of separatist forces in Ukraine's Donbas region who rose to prominence after 2014. On his Telegram channel, he repeatedly condemns the Russian military establishment, in particular Putin, for how they are conducting the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In his latest outburst, made in a video tweeted by Ukrainian internal affairs adviser, Anton Gerashchenko, Girkin appeared to read out a question about whether the Russian president was able to "break his promise not to kill (Volodymyr) Zelensky."

In February, the former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who served briefly as a mediator at the start of Russia's war with Ukraine, said he had received a promise from Putin not to kill the Ukrainian president.

Smirking, Girkin started his response by saying, "based on Putin's behavior, the question that I have is, is there Putin at all?"

"How is it possible, the supreme-commander-in-chief withdrew himself from the war?" Girkin said. "People from his inner circle are openly fighting among themselves and undermining the stability of the front with their actions, but he does not react in any way."

"And where is he anyway?" Girkin asked, saying that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov always insists "that something is being reported to him." Girkin continued, "well, you can also report to mummies."

In a dig at what he perceives to be a less than proactive approach to the war by Putin, Girkin said "a mummy lies" and "the mummy is silent," concluding that "the outcome is clear."

"This is what the behavior of the supreme commander-in-chief looks like in our country," he said.

Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.

On Friday, Putin said that Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive had started but Kyiv "did not reach their aims in any area of combat."

Putin also said that Ukrainian forces had suffered significant losses in revelations that the Institute for the Study of War think tank said was "a notable departure" from his previous approach of not discussing battlefield realities.

Ukraine's forces said on Saturday they had made advances on parts of the frontline near Bakhmut.

The Russian president is not the only one Girkin has lambasted in the war, with the military blogger last week accusing the chief of the Wagner Group of mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, of plotting to stage a mutiny against the Russian government.