• Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, recently paid a rare visit to Russian troops.
• Shoigu’s detractors in Russia regularly characterized him as distant and unaware of the realities of the struggle.
• Shoigu was shown in the Defense Ministry’s video meeting with Colonel Generals Mikhail Mizintsev.

Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, recently paid a rare visit to Russian troops stationed in occupied Ukraine. This visit was likely more about optics than it was about the strategy of Russia’s invasion.

In a brief video published by the Russian Defense Ministry, Shoigu can be seen aboard a helicopter before briefly speaking with commanders in front of some severely damaged structures. Geotagging the video was not immediately possible.

Shoigu “inspected the advanced command post of one of the formations of the Vostok [Eastern] forces in the South Donetsk direction,” according to the Defense Ministry.

Shoigu was not shown being close to the front lines which were the busiest in the footage.

Shoigu’s detractors in Russia regularly characterized him as distant and unaware of the realities of the struggle. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military firm, has frequently made appearances on the front lines near Bakhmut, where he frequently accuses the Defense Ministry of depriving his soldiers of supplies and acting incompetently.

Prigozhin claimed on Friday that his troops have nearly encircled Bakhmut, the only significant location that Russian forces may be able to seize in the near future.

The purpose of Shoigu’s visit may be to bolster Russian activities while also responding to Prigozhin’s advanced presence. The majority of the long frontline is unchanged from three months ago, notwithstanding some incremental Russian victories near Bakhmut (at great cost) and a significant escalation in Russian artillery, tank, and aviation attacks in numerous places.

Despite efforts to focus resources in the Donbas theatre after the Russian retreat from nearly all of the Kherson region in the south in November and the mobilization of 300,000 troops last autumn, this is the case.

Shoigu was shown in the Defense Ministry’s video meeting with Colonel Generals Mikhail Mizintsev, Sergei Rudskoy, and Rustam Muradov, three of the conflict’s top military figures. This is undoubtedly done to demonstrate that, despite Prigozhin’s remarks, the Defense Ministry is in complete command of the operation.

Yet it’s perplexing that Valery Gerasimov, the man in charge of the entire operation, did not appear to be a part of this carefully orchestrated visit.

The appearance of Muradov is remarkable. He is in charge of the Eastern Military District and has frequently come under fire from Russian military bloggers as well as the units that report to him for using tactics that have resulted in numerous casualties, particularly in the area of the town of Vuhledar, where Russian forces suffered terrible losses in January.

“This coward is laying down at the control point and sending a column after column until the commander of one of the brigades involved in the Vuhledar assault is dead on the contact line,” the pro-Wagner Telegram channel Grey Zone stated of Muradov last month.

Vuhledar is still in Ukrainian hands even though a sizable Russian assault force has been sent in.

There is still a lot of work to be done, Shoigu is heard saying as he presents prizes to numerous servicemen in the Defense Ministry film released on Saturday. I sincerely hope you’ll keep serving our nation with loyalty. I wish you success and, of course, a safe return home.

Another indication that the Russian hierarchy anticipates a protracted struggle to accomplish the invasion’s objectives, a far cry from the lightning campaign that was promised a year ago but quickly disintegrated.

Also Read

By supplying arms, west is dragging out war; Russia’s Defense Minister claims

By supplying arms, west is dragging out war; Russia's Defense Minister claims...