![]() ![]() "These decisions are taken by blokes who used to go to school together, to chat with each other, or play judo and so on." Russia has a "very different nature of power" based on "personality, friendships and old links", he says. John Foreman, who was recently Britain's defence attaché in Moscow, says the close circle would have been together for 25 to 30 years. Sir Andrew Wood, former British ambassador to Russia, says one of Vladimir Putin's main characteristics is to "speak to as few people as he can" - meaning there are few people in the Kremlin, and even fewer in the close circle around him. This can be a difficult question to answer, even for those who have studied Russia for many years. Part Five: What does Putin's close circle in the Kremlin think of him? In this eight-part series, we'll be posing questions to experts about what Mr Putin's motivations are, and what we know about the Russian president. Little is known about the murky workings of the Kremlin and of Mr Putin's state of mind - but what we do know can help shine a light on why the war came about and where it might be headed. Vladimir Putin is the man who brought war back to Europe, sending his tanks into Ukraine on 24 February last year. Last month, an investigation by two independent Russian media outlets - Meduza and Mediazone - used statistical modelling and found 47,000 had died. In February, the UK defence ministry estimated between 40,000 and 60,000 Russian troops had been killed in the first 12 months of the war. "Local residents have been feeling the characteristic acrid smoke for a long time." "For example, near Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, the bodies of Russian servicemen are being cremated almost continuously in an open area, which are delivered by the occupiers on trucks. "The command of the Russian occupying forces tries to hide the real losses of personnel and carries out burials in the temporarily occupied territories, without transporting the remains to Russia," she said on Telegram. ![]() She claimed the dead soldiers were being transported from Kherson, which is more than 100 miles (about 160km) away. Moscow's forces have been delivering the bodies of fallen servicemen in trucks and burning them in an open area of the southeastern city, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said. Dead Russian soldiers are being "cremated almost continuously" near Melitopol, a Ukrainian official has said. ![]()
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