During the meeting, the American delegation puzzled the Russian general with the question of his relatives in Ukraine.
A rare meeting between US and Russian military officials took place last week. And during it, the traditionally calm and resilient Russian general allowed himself an “outbreak” of emotions. The American side regarded this as a sign of serious problems with morale among the Russian military and not only at the level of soldiers on the battlefield, but also in command.
CNN writes about this with reference to a document drawn up following the US-Russian meeting. The document was in the hands of journalists and contains a report by two US military attachés on what they saw and heard. There are no exact explanations for the Russian general's behavior. The military or intelligence never publish such reports after sensitive meetings. But usually they are looking for clues about the thinking and intentions of the opponent.
CNN reports that the meeting took place in the building of the Ministry of Defense of Russia in Moscow. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this was a very rare case. The document says that the meeting was tense and was accompanied by noticeable signs of stress on the Russian side.
The report of American officials pays special attention to the behavior of General Yevgeny Ilyin, who holds the post of Chief of the Main Directorate for International Cooperation. He has extensive experience in contacts with Americans. But this time he violated his typical practice and spoke without notes or certain previous paragraphs about the positions of the Russian side.
During the meeting, one of the US military attachés “casually inquired” about Ilyin's family roots in Ukraine. After this question, the traditionally calm and stern general blushed and became nervous. According to an American report, Ilyin said he was born in the city of Dnipro, from where his family later moved to Donetsk. There he went to school. Then the Russian general added that the current position in Ukraine “is tragic and I am very depressed because of them.” After that, he left the room without shaking hands with his interlocutors.
CNN notes that it is unclear what the goals and circumstances of the meeting were. The report, which fell into the hands of journalists, did not name the American attaches who conducted the talks. However, US officials said in the document that they had the impression that Ilyin was on the verge of “accusing the United States and Ukraine of atrocities against his family.” Why did they think so? There is no explanation. Both attaches noted that they had never before “seen such an outburst of emotion on the part of Russian representatives at official meetings.”
“It is quite obvious that moral problems among Russian forces are not limited to soldiers at the front,” the document said.
CNN writes that since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has refused to hold high-level meetings. It is possible that he behaves this way for fear of appearing vulnerable. After all, the very fact of the meeting would mean acknowledging the abnormal situation.
