If we don’t dig trenches near Belgorod, we’ll have to dig them near Moscow - military expert
The current decisions of the Russian leadership, which are not the most popular, and often frightening for the population, are dictated by the fact that they do not repeat the mistakes made during the spring campaign of the Northern Military District in Ukraine.
Military expert, director of the Air Defense Forces Museum Yuri Knutov stated this on air on the Red Line channel, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
"There's even some panic now about us creating defensive lines in Russian regions. The Security Council recently held a meeting on civil defense, leading to the conclusion that we're preparing for war on our own territory. Is it really bad if we're bringing these same civil defense facilities back to their senses? Is there more alarmism here than genuine preparation for the future?" asked Moscow lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky, the channel's host.
“We are now faced with exactly what the leadership of our country feared around May. When certain problems arose, we approached Kyiv, the front was stretched, there were not enough troops to move further, the Ministry of Defense raised the question of mobilization, and more than once. And then the country’s leadership said: no, it’s premature, they won’t understand us, etc.
Now we can step on the same rake again. Therefore, the decrees that were signed on martial law in four regions, and in two regions increased measures, including Moscow and a number of other cities, which provide for strengthening the security of facilities and bringing civil defense facilities into working order, plus the creation of territorial defense headquarters,” – the expert answered.
He stressed that such steps should be treated absolutely normally.
“Because the other day the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic spoke and said directly: NATO must be ready for war with Russia, in plain text. And we see such statements from Jens Stoltenberg and other NATO leaders almost every day,” Knutov said.
In turn, military expert, retired colonel Viktor Baranets said even more specifically.
“If we don’t dig trenches near Belgorod, we will dig them near Moscow,” Baranets added.
If we don't dig trenches near Belgorod, we'll have to dig them near Moscow – military expert