What’s going on with Russia’s most hyped-up General Teplinsky?
To defeat the enemy, it is necessary to understand how the top leadership thinks and "lives and breathes". When it comes to the theater of operations - first of all, it is necessary to understand what motivates the generals who directly make decisions on the battlefield.
Recently, Russian propagandists published a rating of "the best generals of the Special Military Operation (SMO)". Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of the Airborne Forces and the Dnepr Group of Forces (GF), took the first line in it.
"Censor.NET" together with specialized experts tried to understand who he is and came to unexpected conclusions - the psychological characteristics of the Russian general, including, in particular, a tendency to make impulsive decisions, can play into our hands in two key areas of the front.
From the mud of Donbas to the "heroes" of Russia
General Teplinsky is probably one of the most famous Russian military commanders. His life and career path is a vivid example of how the empire produces loyal dogs of the regime.
He grew up in the Ukrainian Donbas, in the town of Mospino near Donetsk. Before the collapse of the USSR, he graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School (RHACS). He received his baptism of fire during the Transnistrian conflict and subsequently participated in every expansion of the Russian Federation. For his "heroics" during the First Chechen Campaign, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Teplinsky spent his life working on the image of a "father to soldiers" and gained great popularity among the troops, being nicknamed Batia (Wardaddy). However, the higher he climbed up the career ladder, the less he cared about the fate of ordinary soldiers, which inevitably affected the decisions he made on the battlefield.
In the war against Ukraine Teplinsky is involved in fact from its very beginning. At that time, he was in command of the 36th Combined Arms Army (CAA). Already then he had serious disagreements with the General Staff. For example, he strongly opposed the "surrender" of Mariupol in the summer of 2014.
What is interesting: Teplinsky always positioned his participation in the war in Donbas as "liberation of his native land". At the same time, he has been trying all his life to escape from the hated Donbas and get rid of the label "Khohol (is commonly used as an ethnic slur for a Ukrainian)", which he was "awarded" by his comrades since the time of his studies in the RHACS.
This probably explains the extreme cruelty with which Teplinsky has been ordering the destruction of Ukrainian towns and villages throughout these years, and especially after the beginning of the "full-scale war". Even when there is neither military nor political logic in this - the general leaves behind a scorched earth.
By the way, this "dualism of Teplinsky", or rather the discrepancy between his real and declared actions, can be traced in many of the general's actions.
The story about how "Misha Teplinsky in 2014 went with a platoon of machine gunners to rescue his mother from Mospine, which was engulfed in flames" is worth just a few words. The article with the memories of allegedly "his childhood friend" appeared just after the general was appointed commander of the Airborne Forces and a group of PR specialists began to work on his image.
The story ends with the fact that Teplinsky's mother then refused to leave, and it was possible to persuade her as late as 2019. A beautiful story, only, as it turned out, it is an absolute lie, invented by the general himself. His mother still lives near the front line in the Donetsk region, and at the funeral of his father at the end of 2021, Teplinsky did not even attend.
This may indicate certain shifts in his psyche, laid down since childhood. We will talk about this in more detail further on.
Prigozhin's betrayal and the path to resignation
Mikhail Teplinsky rarely appears in public. He and his actions are usually described by a pool of loyal "military correspondents". The only source, thanks to which it is possible to analyze changes in his personality and moods, are rare video messages of the general. Usually, they are timed to holidays.
Thus, the general public was informed from his congratulations on "Defender of the Fatherland Day" that he had been removed from the command of the occupation troops. After all, it was Teplinsky together with General Sergey Surovikin who commanded the withdrawal of the ruscist from the Right Bank and Kherson.
What Russian propaganda called "a forced but competent withdrawal in order to preserve personnel" was in fact a flight. Partially organized, but a flight. This was well understood in the Kremlin, despite the reports of the generals, and of course this failure was followed by personnel decisions.
Teplinsky, apparently, learned his lesson and after that stopped considering the lives of subordinate personnel, putting his career first. At the same time, the general probably harbored a deep grievance against the political leadership and the General Staff, which did not defend him.
So, when Teplinsky was brought back to command the troops - in early April 2023, he became responsible for combat operations in southern Ukraine - the general began using the tactic of meat assaults. And thanks to the same competent PR people, he transferred the discontent of the fighters to the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu through loyal media and Telegram channels.
Does this sound familiar? Yes, this was the tactic used by the leader of PMC "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin. On this basis, they became close to each other. Censor.net sources in intelligence confirm that Teplinsky promised Prigozhin to support his rebellion, but at the last moment changed his mind when he realized that he would get more benefit from the betrayal of "Wagner".
But in the Kremlin and on Znamenka sit intriguers with extensive experience. They found out about Teplinsky's plans, and in the summer they planned to quietly remove him from the command of the army, like Surovikin, and ideally - to arrest him. Then his popularity in the troops played into the hands of the general, sharp actions against him threatened a new mutiny, so they decided to keep the situation quiet until better times.
Since then, Teplinsky has been trying to keep his head down and has begun to publicly praise his superiors, both military and political, which sharply contradicts his statements before. But at the same time, his dreams of positions and awards have not gone anywhere.
At the end of September, Teplinsky got a new appointment - he became the commander of the Dnepr Group of Forces. In fact, it is a demotion. After all, before that he was deputy commander of the SMO, and now he is responsible only for the sections of the front in the Kherson region and parts of the Zaporizhzhia region.
In terms of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and the bridgehead in Krynki, on the left bank of the Dnieper, these areas became the most difficult for the ruscists. For Teplinsky's opponents, his appointment was intended as a win-win situation. If the general can cope, it is their competent decision. If not - well, it seems to be time to say goodbye to the "legendary commander", and the general public will support it.
"Appearance indicates increased anxiety"
Now let's get to the most interesting part. It is not for nothing that we mentioned that Teplinsky's addresses allow us to track the dynamics of how his views and psyche are changing. The other day, the general published a congratulatory message to the graduates of the RHACS. "Censor.NET asked a number of experts to analyze it and form a psychological portrait of the Russian general.
Let us begin, perhaps, with what the general said and what was left between the lines. Teplinsky hinted several times that the Airborne Forces are under considerable pressure from the military and political leadership, notes the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Particularly because of the situation on the left bank of the Kherson region.
"Putin highlighted the tactical and operational situation in Krynki during his Direct Line on December 14. His comment emphasizing the failure of Russian forces to force the Ukrainians out of the eastern bank was probably also a criticism of Teplinsky. And Teplinsky may have used his address to respond to pressure from military commanders and the Kremlin," ISW said.
The general also emphasized the losses of the Airborne Forces, including among young officers who were graduated early and sent to the front. He also drew attention to the situation with the reconstituted 104th Airborne Assault Division. They say that its low combat effectiveness and significant losses on the Kherson direction are due to the lack of time for training of personnel.
It is noteworthy that Teplinsky himself, as commander of the Airborne Forces, is responsible for the training of this division. And he is also responsible for its combat use - as commander of the Group of Forces "Dnepr". But the general again shifts the responsibility for the failures of the 104th division to "circumstances" and "leadership".
Specialized experts who have studied Teplinsky's facial expressions noted that the general is entirely restrained in showing any emotion, and there are no pantomimics or body movements below the neck.
"These facts suggest increased control of himself as well as the space around him, an unsafe environment at the time the video was recorded, and a decreased level of confidence. Appearance indicates increased anxiety: constantly tense body muscles cause hypertonicity on the face in the mouth area, so the text Teplinsky says barely opening it," the investigators added.
They also noticed that according to a number of signs (dark circles under the eyes, deep wrinkles, unhealthy complexion, slowed speech and mood swings), Teplinsky lost interest in taking care of himself and lost motivation due to an overload of responsibilities, emotional exhaustion and chronic fatigue.
"Externally, it is manifested by carelessness in appearance, deterioration of the physical condition, which in turn demonstrates not only physical exhaustion but also emotional distress. In turn, it causes outbursts of anger and aggression, as well as impulsive and uncontrollable behaviors," the experts specified.
A comparative analysis of Teplinski's congratulations with his past speeches was also made. Some experts suggest that at this stage the general is in an altered state of consciousness. According to them, it could be a consequence of contusion, physical and emotional exhaustion or drug use (most likely neuroleptics).
"The symptomatology is close to the ICD-10 disorder of 'flattened emotional response.'" In other words, we're at war with a psychopath. We're at war with a schizophrenic psychopath. He doesn't care about anyone, including his own family. He's just going headlong toward his goal. But in such a state a person tends to inadequately assess the situation and make serious mistakes. This is to our advantage," summarized one of the psychologists.
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In summary, it seems that Teplinsky has certain difficulties in adequately perceiving reality and successfully leading the troops at this stage. Judging by the fact that the factors that provoked this condition have not gone away, and will inevitably intensify with time - the general's disorder may continue to progress.
It is likely that he can no longer and does not want to hide the fact that the state of affairs on the fronts entrusted to him is extremely difficult. But Teplinsky is not ready to take personal responsibility for failures either. Therefore, we can assume that soon we will see another round of his confrontation with the Russian General Staff and the Kremlin.
Ukraine and its Defense Forces benefit from any scenario. Teplinsky will either continue to drive entire divisions to their deaths, leading to disaster on the battlefield, or will be dead set against his "offenders" in the Kremlin at Znamenka - an unlikely but also possible scenario.
Viktor Kopylenko
