Nemtsov: Putin’s 9 failures and the death of the ‘Novorossiya’ project

The Russian President ordered to return 17,6 thousand servicemen to their base locations, which means that we can conclude the ‘horrible’ results, thinks opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who wrote about this on Facebook. According to Nemtsov, the Kremlin has closed the ‘Novorossiya’ project. “Putin ordered to return 17,600 servicemen to their permanent base locations. We can take a breath and make certain conclusions. They are horrible. None of the goals Putin determined were achieved.

1. He wanted to tie Ukraine to Russia, make it join the Customs Union and got the exact opposite: Ukraine chose the European path and will never return to the orbit of Putin’s influence.
2. He wanted to achieve Ukraine’s neutrality, preserve its non-bloc status – total failure: it is already clear that Ukraine is tied to the NATO closely and for a long duration. Joint Ukraine-NATO training is being held, military-technical cooperation with the Alliance is being established.
3. He wanted respect from the Ukrainian people – he got an enemy for years to come and Putin - khuylo.
4. He wanted Novorossiya to stretch from Donetsk to Odesa – he got the smaller parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
5. He wanted a corridor to Crimea through Mariupol – he got a counterattack and trenches dug by Russian people in Mariupol not to allow the occupant through.
6. He wanted it to be just like in Crimea, without a single shot fired – he got 4,000 killed on both sides.
7. He wanted for the Russian economy not to suffer – he got capital outflow of more than $100 billion, 40 rubles per dollar (devaluation of over 20%) and two-digit inflation on foodstuffs. Also, total stagnation in the economy without investments and innovation.
8. He wanted support on part of imperialists and nationalists (like Girkin) – he got great irritation on their part and the title of traitor.
9. He wanted to remain notable in world politics – he became a pariah. They kicked him out of the G8, he gets no invitations anywhere, his associates are all under sanctions, nobody besides Lukashenko and Nazarbayev is willing to speak to him. And even they support Ukraine’s unity and demand money. Especially Alexandr Grigoryevich [Lukashenko]: he received $3.5 billion per year from the Russian budget, meanwhile stating that Russia should be divided between Mongolia and Kazakhstan.”

According to Nemtsov, the only thing Putin wanted and got was high ratings, “based on imperialistic hysteria and cynical propaganda lies.” “But this won’t last long. Soon the people will understand that prices have grown and incomes haven’t. He won’t be able to blame Obama for everything for long. This is how he outwitted them all. First and foremost, Russia,” the politician concluded. On October 11 the Russian President ordered the Defense Ministry to return to the permanent base locations the servicemen who participated in "training" on the territory of the Southern Military District (in Rostov oblast). Earlier, Russian writer and publicist Viktor Shenderovich expressed an assumption that when Putin understands that he is backed into a corner, he will give the green light to the next level of vileness already within the country.