From 10h ago
17:35
First phase of invasion 'generally' complete,
says Russia in downgrading of aims
Pjotr Sauer
Pjotr Sauer
.jpg)
Russia’s
defence ministry said on Friday that the first phase of its military operation
was “generally” complete, saying the country will focus on the “liberation” of
Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
The defence
ministry stated Russian-backed separatists now controlled 93% of Luhansk and
54% of Donetsk, the self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine’s east. The two
together are commonly known as the Donbas region.
“The main
objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been
accomplished,” Sergei Rudskoi, the head of the Russian general staff’s main
operational directorate said during a briefing.
In Friday’s
announcement, Russia also appeared to hint that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine
may be turning to more limited objectives, adding that the main goal of the
operation was the “liberation of the Donbas”.
“The combat
potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been considerably reduced, which
... makes it possible to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal, the
liberation of Donbas.”
Russia has
been shifting its objectives in Ukraine throughout the war. The Russian
president, Vladimir Putin, earlier said that the “denazification” of the
Ukrainian leadership – generally understood as regime change – was the main
motivation for the invasion.
Michael
Kofman, the director of the Russia studies programme at the CNA thinktank, on
Friday tweeted that the military briefing suggested Russia would focus on
“taking as much of the Donbas as possible,” while claiming Donbas was always
the main goal of what Kremlin refers to a “special military operation”.
“I had a
hypothesis that the more minimal aims Moscow could have at this point is to try
to take all of the Donbas, pursue some political settlement, then turn around
and claim that’s what this operation was really all about in an effort to
salvage something & declare victory,” Kofman tweeted.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário