Putin, After Re-Election Hoopla, Faces the Question That Worried the Tsars: How Does One Defend World’s Largest Country?

Armed exile units taking the fight into Russia in the largest military incursion since World War II.

AP/Efrem Lukatsky
Members of the pro-Ukrainian Siberian Battalion train near Kyiv, December 13, 2023. AP/Efrem Lukatsky

It was supposed to be an election weekend sideshow. Now, it is a big thorn in the side of Russia’s newly re-elected president.

One week ago, armed units of three Russian exile groups crossed into Russia from Ukraine. The assumption was that they would shoot up border posts, pose for  selfies, denounce Mr. Putin’s stage -managed vote, and then go home. 

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