Larry Johnson Makes Clear, Putin Will ‘Remain Cool and Collected’ to Kiev’s Desperate Attack on Kremlin

May 3, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Larry Johnson, a member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), appearing today on “Judging Freedom” with Judge Napolitano, analyzed this morning’s drone attack upon the Kremlin. Johnson stated that this attack was a “grievous mistake” by Kiev, that it was an attack upon the soul of the nation, that it can only “galvanize Russians.” Firing upon the very location where the annual parade in celebration of Russia’s victory over the Nazis is being prepared, a victory that cost the nation 26-27 million of their citizens—this is way more galvanizing than having an enemy attack upon the Washington mall prior to the Fourth of July.

Kiev’s gamble is that they might provoke a lashing out by Russia, and finally get the U.S. and the West to go whole-hog into the war. However, Johnson explained, there may be a lot of angry responses out of Russia from people such as Medvedev, but “Putin and the military will remain cool and collected.... They won’t lash out.”

“What is going to be interesting is recovering the parts.” Basically, the “politics in Moscow require” a response, but the Russians have evidence in hand, and they can confidently respond in kind based upon that, at a time of their choosing.

Napolitano asked whether it is possible that this could have been a false flag operation by Russian ultra-nationalists impatient with Moscow’s mode of proceeding up to now? Johnson said that, sure, such had to be considered, but first, the profound desperation in Kiev must be taken into account. There has been a significant uptick in terrorist attacks, blowing up of railroad lines, artillery attacks against Russia’s Bryansk and Crimea’s Kursk. “They don’t change anything strategically or tactically, except to make Russians mad.” Ukraine doesn’t have the soldiers or the artillery, and the West cannot gear up production in time to have any effect.

Johnson doesn’t see the Russians trusting the negotiation route. Rather, the war has been a revelation to the Russians of a deep-seated hatred in the West and in Kiev of all things Russian. The Kiev regime would eliminate the Russian language itself? Who does that? Russia’s only remaining option is to deal with the neo-Nazi character of the Kiev regime.

Asked about the Vatican offer of negotiation, Johnson said the chances were very low. Beyond centuries of a longstanding enmity between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches, Kiev’s recent attacks on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, attacks that are “almost Satanic,” have not been responded to by the Vatican with proper outrage. So, the credibility is not there with the Russians.