Russia Appears To Scale Back War Ambition To Liberating Donbas

The announcement seemed to show that Moscow could turn to more limited targets after facing fierce Ukrainian resistance in a month of war. Russian troops have failed to capture any major cities and have stopped at the gates of the capital, Kiev. The Defense Ministry said that Russian-backed separatists now control 93 percent of Ukraine’s Luhansk region and 54 percent of Donetsk region. They are Donbass together. “The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been achieved,” said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the General Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff. “The fighting force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been significantly reduced, which … makes it possible to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbass.”

A move that saves the face, says the source

A senior diplomatic source in Moscow described it as a move that saves the face and a possible prelude to an ascent from Russia. Its forces have been bogged down and have not been able to capture any major cities since invading Ukraine from the north, east and south on February 24. “Their war targets are / were much wider than Donbass, leaving their power divided by poorly coordinated attacks on multiple fronts by unprepared troops,” the source said. “I was expecting the possibility of a refocus on Donbass, but while Putin’s rhetoric remains maximalist, we need to see more evidence on the ground.” CLOCKS About 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled since the start of the war:

Some 3.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the war: UN

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says about 3.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian-led invasion, with about two million refugees crossing into Poland. 4:37
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russian forces are in a special operation to demilitarize and “demilitarize” Ukraine. The West and Kyiv call it a false pretext to invade a democracy, saying its real goal was to overthrow the government. Russia has also said it will insist on Ukraine accepting the loss of Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014, and recognizing Donbass as independent, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army for the past eight years. A man walks with his bicycle in front of the gutted remains of a car and smoke emerging from a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkov, Ukraine on Friday. (Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press)
Ukraine says it is willing to negotiate an end to the war, but will not surrender or succumb to ultimatums. Rudinsky said the Russian military was considering limiting its operations to Donbass only, but chose to expand throughout Ukraine to destroy its military infrastructure and deploy its forces to prevent the east from strengthening. Russia has not ruled out invading cities, he said, but as the military completes its tasks, “our forces and resources will be concentrated on the main thing – the full liberation of Donbass.” Rudinsky said 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded in the operation. The Ukrainian military says about 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in fighting.

title: “Russia Appears To Scale Back War Ambition To Liberating Donbas " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-10” author: “Louise Chisam”

The announcement seemed to show that Moscow could turn to more limited targets after facing fierce Ukrainian resistance in a month of war. Russian troops have failed to capture any major cities and have stopped at the gates of the capital, Kiev. The Defense Ministry said that Russian-backed separatists now control 93 percent of Ukraine’s Luhansk region and 54 percent of Donetsk region. They are Donbass together. “The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been achieved,” said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the General Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff. “The fighting force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been significantly reduced, which … makes it possible to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbass.” Donbass, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out “genocide” against the Russians without evidence, has long been a prominent figure in Moscow’s anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. But if the occupation of the whole of Donbass had been the goal from the beginning, Moscow could have carried out a much more limited attack and escaped the effort and losses of invading Ukraine from the north, east and south. . “Obviously they have completely failed in what they set out to do, so now they are redefining what the purpose is so that they can declare victory,” said Ben Hodges, a former U.S. military commander in Europe who now works for European Policy Analysis Center. “They clearly do not have the ability to continue the large-scale offensive operations … Their logistics problems were obvious to everyone, they have serious human resources problems and the resistance was far beyond anything they could have imagined. “ A senior diplomatic source in Moscow described it as a move that saves the face and a possible prelude to an ascent from Russia. Its forces have been swamped and have not been able to occupy any major cities since they invaded Ukraine on February 24. CLOCKS About 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled since the start of the war:

Some 3.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the war: UN

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says about 3.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian-led invasion, with about two million refugees crossing into Poland. 4:37
“Their war targets are / were much wider than Donbass, leaving their power divided by poorly coordinated attacks on multiple fronts by unprepared troops,” the source said. “I was expecting a refocus on the effort back in Donbas, but while Putin’s rhetoric remains maximalist, we need to see more evidence on the ground.” Putin says Russian forces are in a special operation to demilitarize and “denationalize” Ukraine. The West and Kyiv call it a false pretext to invade a democracy, saying its real goal was to overthrow the government. Russia has also said it will insist on Ukraine accepting the loss of Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014, and recognizing Donbass as independent, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army for the past eight years. Ukraine says it is willing to negotiate an end to the war, but will not surrender or succumb to ultimatums. A rescue worker stands on the roof of a regional administration building hit by Russian bombing in Kharkov, Ukraine, on Friday. (Thomas Peter / Reuters)
Rudinsky said the Russian military was considering limiting its operations to Donbass only, but chose to expand throughout Ukraine to destroy its military infrastructure and deploy its forces to prevent the east from strengthening. Russia has not ruled out invading cities, he said, but as the military completes its mission, “our forces and resources will be concentrated on the main thing – the full liberation of Donbas.” Rudinsky said 1,351 Russian soldiers were killed in the operation and 3,825 were wounded. The Ukrainian military says about 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in fighting.