Hertling took to Twitter on Wednesday to reflect on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine in a series of tweets. He also shared articles of relevance as he voiced his opinion on the state of the war.
He insisted that the conflict essentially comes down to Ukraine verse Putin and that the Russian president’s strategies have so far shown signs of failure.
“It appears Putin is taking a page out of the 17th century. He’s now attempting to “dragoon” Ukrainians to fight in the RU Army,” Hertling tweeted.
“Dragoon is usually a noun, but [it can be] used as a verb. As a verb, it means: ‘subjugate or persecute and by extension compel by violent measures or threats.’
“The term dates to 1689, when the French forced Protestants to lodge soldiers at the householder’s expense.
“In the 17th century, it expanded to mean forcing locals to ‘serve against their will under arms to fight.’
“‘Dragooning suggested forcing someone to take up arms or support a ruler without loyalty or patriotic duty. The subdued were usually given the choice: fight or die.”
This assessment by Hertling comes after Putin enacted a decree of martial law in parts of Ukraine, the regions Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
Though Putin didn’t immediately break down what steps could be taken under martial law, the legislation that was approved suggested that the order could result in more censorship and restrictions on travel and public gatherings. It could also provide wider authority for law enforcement.
In another tweet, Hertling wrote:” “This is how despots built an army, especially when those usually loyal to them would rather not fight.”
He continued: “Which brings us back to Putin. Putin’s mobilization is causing more problems than its solving.”
“When 1st announced, mobilization caused major issues due to lack of training and hasty integration of unprepared soldiers.”
“After 3 weeks, RU reports it’s causing economic, diplomatic, domestic, supply and ‘potential political problems’ in Moscow.
“In other words, mobilizing RU ‘reservists’ is causing MAJOR problems for Putin.”
“Pundits are now being asked ‘does this show a sign of Russian weakness?’ No. It shows a sign of imminent Russian disaster.
“Annexation of Ukrainian territory, shipment of UKR civilians to Crimea or Russia, absconding with UKR children to Russia, “dragooning,” are all indications of Putin’s continued strategic failure. He’s now -and I’ll use a doctrinal term- “winging it.”
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs for comment.
