LONDON: Approaching the 100-day mark in a war that he refuses to call by its name, Russian President Vladimir Putin is a man intent on conveying the impression of business as usual.
As his army fought its way into the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk this week, Putin was making awkward small talk in a televised ceremony to honour parents of exceptionally large families.
Since the start of May, he has met - mostly online - with educators, oil and transport bosses, officials responsible for tackling forest fires, and the heads of at least a dozen Russian regions, many of them thousands of miles from Ukraine.
Along with several sessions of his Security Council and a series of calls with foreign leaders, he found time for a video address to players, trainers and spectators of the All-Russian Night Hockey League.
The appearance of solid, even boring routine is consistent with the Kremlin's narrative that it is not fighting a war - merely waging a "special military operation" to bring a troublesome neighbour to heel.
For a man whose army has heavily underperformed in Ukraine and been beaten back from its two biggest cities, suffering untold thousands of casualties, Putin shows no visible sign of stress.
In contrast with the run-up to the Feb. 24 invasion, when he denounced Ukraine and the West in bitter, angry speeches, his rhetoric is restrained. The 69-year-old appears calm, focused and fully in command of data and details.
While acknowledging the impact of Western sanctions, he tells Russians their economy will emerge stronger and more self-sufficient, while the West will suffer a boomerang effect from spiralling food and fuel prices.
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
But as the war grinds on with no end in sight, Putin faces an increasing challenge to maintain the semblance of normality.
Economically, the situation will worsen as sanctions bite harder and Russia heads towards recession.
Militarily, Putin's forces have gradually advanced in eastern Ukraine but the United States and its allies are stepping up arms supplies to Kyiv, including a U.S. promise this week of advanced rocket systems.
Should Russia's offensive falter, Putin could be forced into declaring a full-scale mobilisation of reserves to bolster his depleted forces, Western defence experts say.
"This would involve more than a million people in Russia, and then of course it will be visible for those whose who have not yet realised that Russia is in a full war," said Gerhard Mangott, an Austrian academic who has met and observed Putin over many years.
That would be a hard sell to a Russian public which is mainly reliant on state media loyal to the Kremlin and has therefore been kept in ignorance of the scale of Russian setbacks and casualties.
Yet Russia is still not at that point, Mangott said, and Putin may draw some encouragement from signs of Western fatigue with the war. Divisions are emerging between Ukraine's most hawkish backers - the United States, Britain, Poland and the Baltic states - and a group of countries including Italy, France and Germany which are pressing to bring an end to the war.
"Putin is counting that the longer this war drags on, the more conflicts and frictions within the Western camp will appear," he said.
Meanwhile peace talks with Ukraine stalled weeks ago, and Putin shows absolutely no sign of seeking a diplomatic exit. "He still thinks there is a good military solution to this problem," said Olga Oliker, program director for Europe and Central Asia at Crisis Group.
Putin preserves the option to claim victory at any point because his stated objectives - what he called the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine - "were always goals that you could declare accomplished because they were never clearly defined and were always somewhat ridiculous", Oliker said.
The words "war" and "Ukraine" were never spoken during Putin's 40-minute video encounter on Wednesday with the prolific families, including Vadim and Larisa Kadzayev with their 15 children from Beslan in the North Caucasus region.
Wearing their best dresses and suits, the families sat stiffly at tables laden with flowers and food as Putin called on them in turn to introduce themselves. On the same day, eight empty school buses pulled into the main square of Lviv in western Ukraine to serve as a reminder of 243 Ukrainian children killed since the start of Putin's invasion.
The closest he came to acknowledging the war was in a pair of references to the plight of children in Donbas and the "extraordinary situation" there.
Russia had many problems but that was always the case, he said as he wrapped up the online meeting. "Nothing unusual is actually happening here."
READ MORE: Latest development on Ukraine-Russia crisis
Reuters
Fri Jun 03 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on the road construction development via video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia June 2, 2022. - REUTERS
Menteri Indonesia bincang isu pekerja migran dengan rakan sejawat dari Malaysia
Fauziyah harap Steven akan membawa penambahbaikan kepada dasar berkaitan tenaga kerja Indonesia.
Pahang peruntuk RM1.5 juta bantuan tunai bakal jemaah haji
Sebanyak 1,588 jemaah haji Pahang menerima sumbangan 'duit poket' berjumlah RM750 seorang bagi membantu meringankan beban bakal haji dalam melakukan persiapan melaksanakan rukun Islam kelima itu.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Pengundi jangan mudah percaya taktik fitnah - Ramanan
Ramanan berkata pengundi perlu lebih berhati-hati, dan sentiasa menyemak fakta apabila mendengar kempen politik yang dilakukan pihak lawan.
KEDA berhasrat tanam padi wangi, padi huma tahun ini
Lembaga Kemajuan Wilayah Kedah (KEDA) berhasrat membangunkan tanaman padi wangi dan padi huma di beberapa kawasan pertanian dalam wilayahnya, tahun ini.
Mesyuarat perundingan Enam Pihak Arab bincangkan perkembangan di Gaza
Mesyuarat perundingan Jawatankuasa Enam Pihak Arab itu membincangkan perkembangan serangan Israel ke atas Semenanjung Gaza.
Chegubard didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen KL esok - Peguam
Badrul Hisham Shaharin atau dikenali Chegubard akan didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen Kuala Lumpur esok atas pertuduhan memfitnah dan menghasut.
Pulau Pinang, kerajaan pusat bekerjasama tarik pelaburan semikonduktor
Kerajaan Pulau Pinang akan bekerjasama dengan Kerajaan Persekutuan untuk meneruskan usaha menarik pelaburan dalam sektor semikonduktor, termasuk segmen reka bentuk litar bersepadu (IC) di negeri itu.
Rakyat Malaysia di Jordan jadi duta produk PMKS negara
Menteri Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi Datuk Ewon Benedick menyarankan rakyat Malaysia yang menetap di Jordan supaya memainkan peranan sebagai “duta” untuk mempromosikan produk perusahaan mikro kecil dan sederhana (PMKS) SERTA koperasi negara.
Mohamed Khaled tiba di Indonesia, dijadual bertemu Prabowo
Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin tiba di Jakarta hari ini untuk lawatan kerja rasmi sulung beliau ke Indonesia sejak memegang jawatan itu.
SPRM mohon maklumat dari Jerman
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) memohon maklumat terkini daripada pihak berkuasa Jerman mengenai dana bon 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) yang dipercayai digunakan untuk membeli kereta mewah di negara itu pada 26 Okt 2022.
China, Rusia setuju kekalkan pertukaran pastikan hubungan berkembang lancar
Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin dan Presiden China Xi Jinping bersepakat untuk terus mengekalkan pertukaran erat bagi memastikan hubungan bilateral berkembang dengan lancar dan stabil.
Tiada siapa dapat pecah belah rakyat Rusia selepas serangan keganasan di Moscow - Putin
Putin mengharapkan kerjasama semua negara yang ikhlas berkongsi penderitaan dan sedia bergabung dalam memerangi keganasan.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Presiden China dahului mesej ucapan tahniah terhadap pemilihan semula Presiden Putin
Xi berkata pemilihan semula Putin mencerminkan sepenuhnya sokongan daripada rakyat negara itu.
Putin menang besar, peroleh 87 peratus undi
Kemenangan Putin dalam keputusan awal itu adalah yang paling bergaya pernah dicatatkan bagi pemimpin pasca-Soviet.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Ramai rakyat Rusia masih setia kepada Putin
Di sebalik perang di Ukraine, Presiden Russia, Vladimir Putin dijangka kekal mentadbir buat penggal kelima di republik itu.
Pilihan Raya Presiden Rusia bermula hari ini
Lebih 200 pemerhati parlimen dan berpuluh-puluh lagi pakar pilihan raya telah diberikan tauliah melalui Majlis Persekutuan.
31,000 tentera Ukraine terbunuh sejak pencerobohan Rusia - Presiden Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky nafi dakwaan Vladimir Putin kononnya sehingga 300,000 askar Ukraine telah terkorban sepanjang perang.
Lyudmila Navalnaya tuntut mayat anak lelakinya daripada Vladimir Putin
"Beri saya peluang jumpa anak saya," pinta Lyudmila Navalnaya daripada Vladimir Putin.