Svyatoslav Golikov himself served as a mercenary in a Russian private military company and he had a chance to leave the front line when his contract has ended, then he came back as an instructor. Since then he's also very active on his Telegram channel where he writes about not so optimistic perspectives of the Russian offensive on Ukraine. Golikov says about very high attrition levels of the Russian army and indifference of the Russian society, which displays itself in rapidly declining donations to the front line. He then quotes Putin saying that chances are Russia will be able to "finish off Ukraine" and comments on it critically, describing the situation on the front as constant "balancing" of resources at shortage, which can at any moment result in collapsing of the front line. Therefore he considers "finishing off" Ukraine completely unrealistic, but highlights that this continued balancing gives an impression to Putin that they still have reserves. The interview is difficult to follow because Golikov speaks in very vague terms and carefully weighting his words, as he is trying to navigate the minefield of Russian war censorship and frequently uses euphemisms or metaphors to express his thoughts. Nonetheless he finally approaches a another very interesting topic - Kremlin being literally afraid of the veterans returning from the front line, because they return "not being afraid of things". Once again, in this evasive phrase he means the usual instruments of repressions used by authorities in Russia against citizens who oppose corruption or violation of their rights. Usually, regular police or courtroom violence is enough to pacify regular civilians but that's precisely where the threat from veterans comes. Golikov says straigh - Kremlin considers these veterans, often injured and physically not fit, as a "factor of internal political risk" specifically because, in spite of their injuries, they are no longer afraid. In the remaining part of the interview he covers corruption, incompetence and other plagues of Russian administration.