Entering 2024, Russia and Ukraine have started missile bombardment. However, compared with Ukraine, Russia's bombing is obviously stronger, covering the entire territory of Ukraine. The sound of air defense sirens rising and falling with each other is shattering the last illusions of Ukrainians, especially Kyiv, Kharkiv and other large Ukrainian cities, which have been subjected to heavy bombardment. Some analysts believe that although the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has lasted for nearly two years, the lives of people in Kyiv and other places have not been greatly affected, except for avoiding some air raids. However, this time the Russian army used a large-scale operation to tell all Ukrainians that they can completely destroy the Kyiv air defense system at any time if they want to.
Realizing this, the psychological defense line of the Ukrainians completely collapsed. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko shouted to U.S. Zelensky and asked the latter to come up with a "Plan B". Zelensky's former adviser Arestovich even said that the Kyiv authorities should turn to Moscow and then join forces against the United States and the West. German historian Ammar said that the remarks of these Ukrainian politicians sent two signals, one is that it is already clear in Ukraine that it is impossible to defeat Russia; Second, remarks similar to Ukraine's surrender and giving up part of its territory in exchange for peace have gradually become mainstream**.
If a few months ago, someone openly proposed a "compromise with Russia", then Zelensky would definitely directly denounce it. However, Zelensky now has no intention of refuting the "compromise with Russia" because he is facing too many troubles. Because there is no source of troops, Ukraine is already in a huge predicament. According to Reuters and other reports, now the contradictions between Zelensky and the Ukrainian military have intensified, and the two sides are arguing over the issue of "500,000 mobilization", and no one wants to bear the responsibility for mobilization. It can be seen that the war-weariness in Ukraine has reached its peak, and the vast majority of the people are reluctant to go to the battlefield. Zelensky's discord with the top level of the Ukrainian army also shows that Ukraine is close to being paralyzed.
In fact, when Ukraine began to carry out provocations against Russia, they were doomed to the situation they are in. The Kyiv authorities pin all their hopes on the United States and the West, and take the initiative to hand over their fate to others. As a result, Ukraine overestimated the determination of the United States and the West to defeat Russia, and underestimated Russia's overall strength. Of course, this is not all the problem of the Kyiv authorities, the United States seriously underestimates Russia, and feels that it can be dragged down by extreme sanctions and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which is the main reason for the current situation. Now, the United States has little means for Russia, and it is inevitable to abandon Ukraine to protect its own interests.
However, at this critical moment, a bombshell news suddenly appeared: Gerasimov, the number one person in the Russian army and chief of the General Staff, is still missing. According to a number of **, on December 29 last year, Gerasimov presented medals to representatives of officers and soldiers on the front line of the Russian army, and he never appeared in public again. It is reported that Gerasimov went to Crimea to inspect after the award, but his whereabouts were learned by the Ukrainian army and were attacked by missiles. Gerasimov's news has not been officially confirmed by Russia, but there are a lot of related rumors, which makes the outside world feel very confused.
However, there are two details that deserve attention. First, after a large number of rumors about Gerasimov appeared, the Ukrainian side publicly stated that it denied that Gerasimov was killed in the attack of the Ukrainian army, and also emphasized that the chief of the General Staff of the Russian army is still alive. You must know that Ukraine has been magnifying its own achievements, for example, when the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was attacked by a missile before, the Ukrainian army couldn't wait to announce the "beheading" of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. As a result, the Russian army announced that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet participated in the meeting, and directly slapped the Ukrainian army in the face. ** accident occurred in a Russian railway tunnel, and the Ukrainian side quickly said that it was an attack carried out by them, but did not provide relevant evidence. Now in the face of the news that the No. 1 person of the Russian army was suspected of being killed, the Kiev authorities rarely remained calm and refuted the rumors, which made the outside world feel very puzzled.
Some analysts have pointed out that in fact, news similar to "Gerasimov was killed by a bombing" appeared in large numbers last year, and it has not been interrupted until now. These rumors were later turned out to be rumors because of Gerasimov's public appearance. In addition, after the Kremlin was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack, the United States has warned the Kyiv authorities not to carry out attacks on the top of Russia, as this will only provoke strong retaliation from Moscow. If Gerasimov dies in an attack by the Ukrainian army, then the Russian army is likely to take action against Zelensky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Zaluzhny and others.
In addition, similar rumors of "death" have also appeared in Ukraine. In May last year, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Zaluzhny, was rumored to have been "killed", and died in a Russian air strike in **mut. Eventually, it took a full two months for Zaluzhny to make another public appearance, shattering the rumors.
It is worth noting that just as Gerasimov was "missing", US Secretary of Defense Austin also "disappeared". According to the Pentagon, Austin was admitted to the ICU ward because of complications from surgery. However, the US Secretary of Defense was admitted to the hospital without notifying the White House or handing over his work, and it has been like evaporating from the world for the past few days. What's even more strange is that the Secretary of Defense has been off duty for more than 3 days, and the White House is unaware of it. After the incident, the White House's reaction was also very strange, only saying that it had discussed with the Pentagon to determine that Austin would be able to return to his post normally in the future. The U.S. and Russian military tops "disappeared" at the same time, and both countries are secretive about the reasons for the disappearance. Although there is no evidence, there are still doubts that the US and Russian military leaders did not hold secret talks. After all, it was previously reported that Zaluzhny had secret contacts with Gerasimov to seek peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and now the United States and Russia are secretly negotiating, which is not groundless.
In addition, although the Russian army is still carrying out air strikes on Ukraine, it still has not hit the core institutions of the Kyiv authorities, which shows that the attack on the Russian high-level has not appeared. Of course, it will take time to solve all doubts, so we might as well let the bullets fly a little longer.