Russian General Floats Deadline for End of Putin's War

Top Russian General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Akhmat special forces unit and a supporter of President Vladimir Putin, claims the war with Ukraine will be over by the end of the year.

Alaudinov, who leads the Chechen forces in the conflict, was appointed by Putin in April as deputy head of the Defense Ministry's military-political department.

During a state TV broadcast with Olga Skabeyeva, Alaudinov discussed the current state of military affairs and his projection for the end of the 2-plus-year-long war that started with Putin's February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine.

Skabeyeva, along with her husband, Duma member Yevgeny Popov, was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department in 2023, in part for their "talk show where they predominantly disseminate pro-Russia propaganda for the war against Ukraine."

In a YouTube video posted Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, by journalist Julia Davis, founder of Russian Media Monitor, a watchdog group that translates Russian videos, Skabeyeva asked Alaudinov about the slowing pace of Russian progress in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

Not directly addressing Skabeyeva's concerns, Alaudinov claimed that Russian forces have "made a very serious breakthrough" and "quite a lot of territory was liberated," indicating, from his perspective, that Russia gained territory.

He further stated that Ukraine had "moved a lot of forces there, most of their units," to the northeastern region that has long been a focal point of the war.

"This will be a decisive battle for us, in which we will destroy the remaining forces and means. After that, I believe, as I've already said earlier, we will finish the special military operation this year," the commander said, adding that "we will put an end to it."

He said that "everything is proceeding as it should," and "Ultimately, we will finish all of it with a final decisive battle, which I believe will be victorious for us."

In a phone interview with Newsweek, Edward Verona, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, responded to Alaudinov's comments, emphasizing skepticism toward Russian public media's accuracy.

"The possibility of the war coming to an end this year, I don't see that," Verona said. "The Russian arsenal has been several depleted ... they're relying heavily on infantry assault, just waves of infantry."

"You can't rely on what you're hearing on Russia public media for any sort of serious analysis," Verona said. "Anything that gets covered by Russian TV has to be seen from the perspective that they are talking to a domestic audience, which does not have access by and large [unless they have access to VPN] to outside information. It's used to bolster domestic support."

He added that "what the Russian public doesn't hear in interviews is just how many casualties there have been." Estimated death tolls suffered by both Russia and Ukraine have varied wildly, from 50,000 to 500,000.

Verona said "Russians have indeed taken ground" in Ukraine, but "they have suffered disproportionate casualties."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian government's press service and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for comment via email on Thursday.

The U.S. is a close ally of Ukraine, and since the 2022 invasion, Congress has passed five bills totaling $175 billion in aid to Kiev, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Much of the aid is for military support—weapons, training and intelligence. Last summer, the U.S. and NATO allies agreed to send Ukraine U.S.-made F-16s.

Updated 6/21/24, 5:15 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from Verona.