Russian general proposes deadline for ending Putin’s war

Senior Russian General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat special forces and supporter of President Vladimir Putin, claims the war with Ukraine will be over by the end of the year.

Alaudinov, who commands the Chechen armed forces in the conflict, was appointed deputy head of the Defense Ministry’s military-political department by Putin in April.

During a program on state television with Olga Skabeeva, Alaudinov discussed the current state of military affairs and his forecast for the end of the more than two-year-long war that began with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Skabeyeva and her husband, Duma deputy Yevgeny Popov, were sanctioned by the US State Department in 2023, in part because of their “talk show, in which they spread predominantly pro-Russian propaganda in favor of the war against Ukraine.”

In a YouTube video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday by journalist Julia Davis, founder of Russian Media Monitor, a watchdog group that translates Russian videos, Skabeyeva asked Alaudinov about the slowing pace of Russian progress in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Alaudinov did not directly address Skabeyeva’s concerns, but claimed that Russian forces had “made a very serious breakthrough” and “liberated quite a lot of territory.” In his view, this indicated a territorial gain by Russia.

He further stated that Ukraine had “deployed large troops there, the bulk of its units,” to the northeastern region, which has long been a flashpoint of the war.

“This will be a decisive battle for us in which we will destroy the remaining forces and assets. After that, as I said before, I believe that we will end the special military operation this year,” the commander said, adding: “We will put an end to it.”

He said: “Everything is going as planned” and: “Ultimately, we will end everything with one final decisive battle, which I am convinced will bring us victory.”

Newsweek contacted the Russian government press service and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry by email on Thursday for comment.

The US is a close ally of Ukraine, and since the 2022 invasion, Congress has passed five bills totaling $175 billion in aid to Kyiv, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Much of the aid is earmarked for military support – weapons, training and intelligence work. Last summer, the US and its NATO allies agreed to send US F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.