War in Ukraine: Russia says it wants to focus its efforts on Donbass
A Russian soldier walks past residents queuing to receive humanitarian aid in the besieged city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine.
© ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO/REUTERS
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The Russian army announces that it will now focus on eastern Ukraine and the liberation of Donbass.
The Russian Ministry of Defense specifies that this was one of its options when launching its "
special operation
on February 24, 2022.
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After a month of high-intensity war, Moscow could scale back its ambitions.
“
The main objectives of the first phase of the operation have been met.
The combat capabilities of the Ukrainian forces have been significantly reduced, which allows (...) to concentrate the bulk of the efforts on the main objective: the liberation of Donbass
", declared the deputy to the head of the Russian General Staff Sergei Roudskoy during a press briefing.
For Vladimir Putin's army, this sounds like the failure of its strategy of conquering the whole of Ukraine.
On almost all fronts, the offensive is at a standstill, the Russian troops are even retreating around kyiv, the logistics are failing, the intelligence insufficient and the losses staggering.
Sergei Roudskoy thus reported during his press briefing that “
1,351 soldiers were killed and 3,825 wounded
”.
The previous official report from Moscow, dated March 2, announced the death of 498 Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
But Western sources evoke several thousand deaths on the Russian side, kyiv even going up to more than 15,000.
Mariupol besieged by Russia
Kherson, bordering Crimea, is the only major city conquered entirely by Moscow's forces.
And according to the Pentagon, the city would be challenged by the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Further west, the great port of Odessa seems out of reach.
The Ukrainian army even managed to destroy a Russian ship in Berdyansk, thus undermining the amphibious capabilities of the Black Sea Fleet.
For its part, Kharkiv, the second city of the country, is not surrounded.
Mariupol, the great port of the Sea of Azov, besieged for weeks,
is still resisting
.
In most theaters, the war is therefore frozen in stalemate and under these conditions, the capture of Donbass associated with the control of the coast of the Sea of Azov could, for the Kremlin, be presented to the Russian population as a victory. , justifying military intervention.
► To read also: Interview - A month of war in Ukraine: "An extremely negative assessment" for the Russian army
The Ukrainian Donbass has been partly controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.
Just before the February 24 offensive, Russia had recognized their independence, and launched its military intervention with the official aim of protecting them from a "genocide" orchestrated by the Ukrainian authorities.
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Ukraine
Russia
Defense