World Affairs International

Ukrainian forces are advancing east of the Oskil river past Lyman as a schism in Russian military leadership develops over escalations and the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Already, hardliners like Yevgeny Prigozhin and Ramzan Kadyrov, along with pro-Russian analysts who have realized the futility of continuing to fight under the current circumstances, have begun to openly spar with senior defense officials, including Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov.

The direct influence of these hardliners will ultimately be determined by Putin’s own thoughts on the war – many sources reporting to Western media have claimed that Putin has begun taking direct control of military affairs on a tactical level, indicating the mistrust of his senior military leadership. His own inexperience with military affairs, along with most of his cabinet, will likely continue to exacerbate command and control processes and the distribution of orders to units on the battlefield.