Putin is a ‘mediocre KGB officer with no meaningful military experience’ | Mark Galeotti



“It’s clear that actually, as a KGB officer, he was pretty mediocre.”

Whilst Putin ‘defends Russia’, he lets “his cronies rob Russia in the process”, says Mark Galeotti, Putin expert and author of ‘Putin’s Wars – From Chechnya to Ukraine’.

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42 thoughts on “Putin is a ‘mediocre KGB officer with no meaningful military experience’ | Mark Galeotti”

  1. 11: 49 the world order isn't meant to be "US led". It's meant to be led by a democratic coalition of all the countries in the world, the United Nations.
    US with the connivance of UK has stolen that power from the UN by a lie that some toxic terrorist minor gas station dictatorship which is not even a member can override the mandate of all the countries of the world.
    Galeotti knows this perfectly well but continues to cover up the lie.

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  2. Ok to anyone who wants to comment that Putin is a great leader, currently the Russian government cannot even keep its people warm and is suffering the problems it said would hit Europe. It cannot defend itself against drones launched hundreds of miles away, and has lost the Black Sea to a country without a Navy. Is this successful leadership ?

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  3. I don't believe that Putin genuinely believes that he is defending Russia from the West militarily. This position is simply a bogus pretext for his anti-NATO stance which has been used both as justification for attacking Ukraine, and attempts to disrupt NATO support in Ukraine's defence. This is clearly evidenced by almost the entirety of Russia's military resource being focused on Ukraine, leaving the NATO flank essentially undefended. The perpetual state of war that Putin instigated is simply an attempt to consolidate his own power in the face of his own weak leadership and poor economic performance. His entire MO, both internationally and at home, is based on deception, so his actions should always be evaluated through this lens.

    What Putin really fears, is that bordering countries such as Ukraine, Georgia and perhaps even Belarus, will (like Poland and the Baltics) become highly successful through greater economic and political integration with the EU & US. This will expose the very poor state of Russia's economy and standard of living right on his own doorstep, making his own grip on power inside Russia increasingly untenable. We see this effect already in Kaliningrad, where a clear majority of even the local Russian population want closer ties with the West.

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  4. A STANDING ARMY IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR FREEDOME ! THE THE WAY TO INSURE PEACE IS TO HAVE A CREDABLE MILITARY AND NOT USE IT ! THE PROBLEM IN UROPE IS ONLY AMERICA HAS PAYED FOR A CREDABLE ARMY/NAVY /AIRFORCE /MARINES /SPACE FORCE /COAST GUARD / NATIONAL GUARD / AND C.I.A. PUTEN KNOWS UROPE IS NOT EVEN SLIGHTLY PREPARED , LOW HANGING FRUIT !

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  5. Dear 'Times Radio', please stop making these nonsensical videos that demean Putin's power. Hateful man though he is for his invasion of Ukraine and rule inside Russia, I grow weary of these infantile commentators who ignore the fact that he has ruled over the largest nuclear arsenal in the world for 25 years. Grow up and recognise the magnitude of the enemy we face.

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  6. What meaningful military experience do Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden have? As KGB, Putin is at least trained to think ahead…and by the way, the Russian economy is doing great 😛

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  7. What would be ‘morally right’ would be that the EU spends more than 1% of your GDP on defense. All of the EU use the US taxpayer to defend yourself but then stick your nose up thinking yourself more moral. The US is the ‘bully.’ Well guess what folks … apparently you want the ‘neighborhood bully’ to come protect you! The US taxpayer is tired of hearing your moralizing and are not happy about coming to your aid. It is time for the EU to protect Ukraine. The US will take care of the rest of the bad guys in world.

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