If Russia attains its key objective in Ukraine war – control over the Donbas region, it is highly likely to annex this territory. The Kremlin is very optimistic about the prospect for taking this area under control. That is why Moscow has already launched the process of replacing some puppet LPR and DPR leaders.
The FSB officers arrested and evacuated Eduard Basurin, the “deputy commander” of the DPR Defense Ministry Corps in mid-April.
It is said he was detained after talking about Russia’s plans to use chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces in Mariupol.
It is known for a fact, however, that a Russian commission, that worked in Horlivka, Donetsk region, from April 24 to March 2, has revealed the 3rd separate brigade of Russian proxies was understaffed. Official reports claim the 3rd Brigade was staffed by100% before the war. Since fighting broke out, it turned out that the unit was staffed by 55%. As non-conformance was determined, two battalion commanders of the brigade were arrested by the FSB.
Russians arrested the LPR Interior Minister Igor Kornet on April 20. Unconfirmed reports suggest he is currently detained in the FSB remand center in Rostov-on-Don. That is accompanied by Leonid Pasechnik, the LPR head, efforts to release Kornet from arrest and reinstate him in his post.
That comes from the threat the Kremlin is eager to conduct investigation to find out how effectively the money given by Russia on puppet projects in Ukraine was spent, as it is likely to reveal the leaders of breakaway states are involved in large-scale embezzlement and transfer of funds abroad, partly to their handlers in Moscow.
The first two months of the war in Ukraine showed that the leaders of breakaway states were deeply corrupted, misinformed Moscow, and, in fact, disrupted Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
The Kremlin, obviously, does not plan to leave the LPR and DPR as breakaway states. Russia’s intelligence head, Sergei Naryshkin, apparently did not make a mistake or was uncertain or confused when he agreed to annex these regions to Russia at a meeting of the Security Council in February.
We believe the head of Russian intelligence knew about the plans to annex the Donbas to Russia and launch the war in Ukraine. That was probably discussed by Putin and him just before the meeting, that is why it caused misunderstanding as the question was asked.
High level of corruption and abuses in LPR and DPR require Moscow to radically reformat the political space in this area and replace those who utilized Russia’s money. All top and mid-level leaders of breakaway states are likely to be replaced, with some of them held accountable or transferred to remote regions in Russia and significantly demoted.
This process is coordinated by Patrushev, the head of the Security Council. The war in Ukraine revealed the catastrophic scale of corruption in Russia and Russian proxies. That is why the Kremlin should demonstrate severe cleansing of those who utilized Russian money inefficiently.But investigation may reveal significant abuse by the handlers of these areas in Moscow. Thus, some officials in breakaway states are highly likely to be assassinated.
