Russia's war machine faces ridicule from two Putin allies

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin makes his annual New Year address to the nation in Moscow, Russia December 31, 2021. Kremlin.ru/via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) -The withdrawal of Russian forces from a strategically important town in eastern Ukraine has prompted two powerful allies of President Vladimir Putin to do something rare in modern Russia: publicly ridicule the war machine's top brass.

Russia's loss of the bastion of Lyman, which puts western parts of Luhansk region under threat, touched a nerve for Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.