Given the enormous setbacks in
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—Russian wits now call the “special operation” the
longest blitzkrieg in history—a suggestion was bruited about that in his V-Day
speech Putin might hint at the possibility of a negotiated truce.

Alas, nothing of the kind could
be discerned in the oration. Instead, Putin repeated the same barefaced lies he
has peddled for months now. To wit: Egged on and armed by NATO, the Ukrainian
“Nazis” and “Bandervities” were about to attack Donbass, “the historic Russian
land” of Crimea, and Russia proper. Russia had tried to seek an “honest
dialogue” and “compromise” with NATO, but “was not heard.” (The
“compromise” consisted of an ultimatum: no NATO for Ukraine, ever; NATO’s
military infrastructure was to move to its 1990s deployments; and no NATO
military exercises in the “proximity” of Russia’s borders). 

As a result, Russia was “forced”
to strike preemptively, claimed Putin. The Russian soldiers in Ukraine are
defending the Motherland, like their ancestors did—from Vladimir Monomakh,
Potemkin, and Suvorov to the World War II Marshals. This is a
“sacred” task, from which, therefore, there is no turning back.

The only odd thing about the speech was the addition, for the first time, of the “Supreme Commander-in-Chief” title to that of “President” in the introduction to the transcript on the official Kremlin site. Although the General Secretaries, and Boris Yeltsin, were ex officio Supreme Commanders-in-Chief, no Soviet or post-Soviet leader since Stalin had been so publicly addressed.  Putin, by contrast, has been greeted in this way since at least November 2015 when his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, reported on Russia’s successes in Syria. Since then, the title has been repeated at every military or paramilitary function Putin has attended—whether at a meeting at the ministry of internal affairs, the headquarters of the Russian police, or a naval parade. “Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” belted out General Dmitri Klimenko, deputy commander of the “Euphrates” artillery group at a Russian airbase in Syria, “our accomplishments here have reinforced the belief of the soldiers, sergeants and officers in our victory under your guidance.”

Still, until now “Supreme Commander-in-Chief” has not been part of Putin’s title in the beginning of the official transcripts. It is very unlikely that the title was added to the transcript without Putin’s approval. If so, it looks like Putin has upped the ante, doubling down on his responsibility for the war and its conduct. If so, expect no easing up in Ukraine any time soon.

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