- US officials met with a Russian general in Moscow. CNN reported that it was not clear why the meeting took place or what the circumstances were
- The American side reported that General Yevgeny Ilyin had lost his temper. He reacted nervously when an interviewee asked him about his family’s roots in Ukraine, and the meeting ended abruptly without shaking hands with his guests.
- While the report does not reveal why Ilyin reacted so severely, the Americans believed his behavior was evidence of low morale in the Russian military.
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CNN reported that “a rare case of a face-to-face meeting between Russian and US defense officials” occurred last week. Representatives of Russia and the United States met at the headquarters of the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow. However, it is not clear why the meeting took place or the circumstances of the meeting. The report received by CNN did not mention the names of the US officials who participated in the interviews. It is known, however, that the interlocutor of the Americans was Major General Yevgeny Ilyin, who behaved differently than usual.
The Russian general reacted emotionally when asked about his family’s roots in Ukraine
First, the Russian general was supposed to speak without taking notes, and this was not his habit. CNN also reported that Elgin lost his temper. When an American attaché asked him about his family’s roots in Ukraine, his mood suddenly changed. He answered that he was born in the Dnieper (until recently Dnipropetrovsk was a city in the central-eastern part of Ukraine – ed.), and then moved to Donetsk, where he attended school. The American team had the impression that Ilyin had stopped accusing the United States and Ukraine of committing atrocities against his family.
During conversations with the Americans, Elgin was said to have been “shot in the eye” which made US officials “tremble”. CNN said the report said that one of the attendants “dropped his jaw,” and both Americans said they had “never experienced such anger by his Russian counterpart in a formal meeting” before.
However, it was not clear from the report what exactly triggered Elgin’s reaction. But US officials said the general’s feelings indicated a morale problem. “It is clear that moral problems among the Russian armed forces are not limited to front-line forces,” the report said.
An abrupt end to the meeting. General Yevgeny Elaine did not shake hands with him
According to US officials, Elgin said the current situation in Ukraine was “tragic” and “extremely depressed,” and then left the meeting without a handshake. A moment earlier, he should have improved his interlocutors when they described the situation in Ukraine as a crisis. According to the report, the Russian general did not deviate from the Russian victory strategy at any cost in the talks.
CNN was unable to identify the US officials who attended the meeting in Moscow. The Pentagon and State Department declined to comment, and the station is awaiting a response from the Russian Defense Ministry.
Russian army morale
Senior US military officials believe that Russian military morale is low and continues to deteriorate. This has to do with the fact that Russia has not achieved the goals it set for itself. The swift invasion of Kyiv was not successful, and the Ukrainians put up more resistance than expected. However, the Russian side is of the opinion that there is absolutely no problem with morale. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US assessment was incorrect.
Source: CNN
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