Russian experts answer.. For these reasons, Putin declared war on Ukraine

MOSCOW -

In a surprising development, and contrary to many estimates, early Thursday morning Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a military operation in Ukraine.

In a speech to the people, Putin was keen to clarify that the circumstances required decisive and immediate measures, after the Donbass republics went to Moscow to seek help, stressing that his country's plans do not include the occupation of Ukraine, but it will work to disarm it.

"The objective of the military operation is to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for 8 years, and for this we will strive to disarm Ukraine, and bring to justice those who have committed numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including Russian citizens," he said.

The clashes, between Russia and nationalist forces in Ukraine, will sooner or later bring the war to Crimea, as inevitable according to Putin, who added that Moscow “will not allow them to have nuclear weapons, and that the control of this country by NATO is unacceptable.” ".

Putin called on soldiers of the Ukrainian army not to carry out "criminal orders" and immediately lay down their weapons and return home, and whoever does so will be able to freely leave the combat zone and return to his home and his family.

He also said that his country's attempts to negotiate with the United States and its allies on the principles of security and non-expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have proven unsuccessful.

position shift

The Kremlin's decision to start a military operation in Ukraine comes after Moscow confirmed, more than once, that it does not intend to take military action against its neighbor, contrary to what Washington and Western capitals have been saying, which raises questions about the reasons that prompted Putin to reverse this position.

In a reading of the Russian President's speech, the strategic expert Alexander Dodchak links the change of the Russian position with the West's failure to provide satisfactory responses to Moscow's demands to provide security guarantees.

At the same time, Dudchak says that the Western system ignored the Ukrainian military build-up on the contact lines with the Donbass region, as well as the bombing it launched against the armed forces of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics there, which led to dozens of deaths and the start of a mass exodus of civilians.

Russian armored vehicles on the Rostov road on the same day that President Putin announced the recognition of the (European) republics of Donetsk and Lugansk

anticipate events

The Russian expert pointed out, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, the importance of taking into account the Ukrainian military build-up of various forces, "which no one disputes that it was a preparation for military action against Donbass, especially after Russia's recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk, which was met with new sanctions on Moscow, Instead of understanding the security concerns that have accumulated, but they have received nothing but contempt and belittling by the West.

Moreover, the strategist said that Putin's speech was comprehensive and coherent, and carried with it, as in the speech of recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk, a reminder of "historical facts related to the illegal establishment of the Ukrainian entity" and at the same time "the hostile attitude of the regime in Ukraine towards Moscow, and the direct participation of the West in trying to weaken and stifle Russia.

On the eve of the start of the operation

The situation in Donbass has deteriorated dramatically in recent days.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine concentrated most of its forces on the contact lines, and regularly fired at the armed forces of the two republics using prohibited weapons and ammunition, and this was accompanied by the evacuation of women, children and the elderly to Russian regions, and the announcement of general mobilization.

On February 19, the leaders of the self-declared republics went to Russia demanding recognition of their independence.

On February 21, Putin signed the relevant decrees, ordering to ensure the preservation of peace in the region.

On Thursday night, Donetsk and Luhansk asked Moscow to protect them from what they saw as aggression from the Ukrainian side.

With the start of the first hours of the military operation, the Russian Defense Ministry reported carrying out specific strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities, targeting airports and command centers in the Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa regions.

The General Staff also announced the neutralization of the air defense systems, and the destruction of the infrastructure of the Ukrainian air bases.

The Russians believe that Western leaders have not taken seriously Moscow's demands for security guarantees and its concerns about the movement on its borders.

Russia's patience is running out

Commenting on the decision to start the military operation in Ukraine, military expert Vitaly Lyutvin said that Russia's patience and wait for a Western move to save the situation had run out.

In his opinion, the decision to move military action and start a special military operation in Ukraine came late, and it should have been before that, but Russia was betting on a last-minute breakthrough.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Lyutvkin said that all the facts led to the need for urgent military action, and to go to the option of forcing Kiev to peace, even through the use of force.

He believed that Russia was confirming that it did not intend to take military action against Ukraine, and before the decision to intervene militarily, it sought to use the platform of the United Nations, and asked France and Germany to put pressure on Ukraine, "but instead of diplomatic action and a serious dealing with Russian concerns, the German chancellor responded sarcastically and spoke about allegations that Genocide in Donbass, and a new package of sanctions against Moscow.

And one of the reasons that prompted this last-minute decision, according to the military expert, is the Ukrainian president’s continuation of the policy of provoking Russia by talking about the possession of nuclear weapons, despite his realization, and the allies in the West, that this is a red line that Moscow cannot allow to cross.

The military expert considered that, by doing so, he repeated the mistake of the German leader Adolf Hitler, whose wars and provocations against the Soviet Union, during World War II, led to the entry of the Red Army into Berlin.