Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine is a turning point

As the 100th day approaches since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the battle is gradually turning in the east of the country in Moscow's favour.

The "Washington Post" newspaper said that the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine represented a "turning point", which makes clear differences in the approach to dealing with the conflict.

The Russian advance was just as brutal and ruthless as previous attacks.

Observers reported tactics similar to those employed in the invasion of the port city of Mariupol, with endless days and nights of artillery fire and missile bombardment crushing residential areas.

On Monday, Russian forces entered the outskirts of Severodonetsk, one of the last cities of strategic importance in the Luhansk region still under Ukrainian control.

If the city falls, Russia and its proxy forces will give the Kremlin de facto authority over the half of the Donbass that Moscow seeks to control.

This comes at a time when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that removing the Ukrainian army from Donetsk and Luhansk is a priority for Moscow.

While eyewitnesses spoke of the stench of death stalking the streets as temperatures soared in early summer, a Ukrainian soldier wounded in the fighting told the newspaper: "They only rain metal on us."

The situation in the east of the country represents a turnaround from an early stage of the war, when strong Ukrainian defenses forced a large-scale Russian withdrawal in Kyiv and other areas, increasing confidence among Ukrainians and their Western backers about the prospects for an all-out victory over a poorly organized and ill-equipped Russian force. , according to the Washington Post.

Now that they have regrouped, Russian forces are making gradual but steady progress in their campaign in the east and regularly using heavy bombers and long-range artillery that Ukrainian forces lack, leaving Kyiv on alert.

The newspaper added, according to its correspondents, that "although the Ukrainian resistance has made fighting a slogan for the Russian forces, Moscow is slowly approaching the encirclement of Ukraine's largest strongholds in the Donbas region, while fighting on the lands bordering Russia with easier supply lines."

Politicians in Kyiv and many of their Western supporters hold an extreme view of how to end the conflict with Russia's surrender and the return of every inch of territory under Moscow's control, including Crimea.

This view of the war contrasts with the growing concerns of foreign policy experts about the dangers of prolonging the war.

In Davos, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called for immediate negotiations and Ukrainian territorial concessions to avoid further crises and global instability.

In Europe, despite much unity, there are still clear differences in approach to conflict.

For example, France and Germany recently urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on ending the Black Sea blockade that has been so devastating to the global economy.

This appeal was met with mockery from politicians in the Baltic states to the east, who want to deepen Russia's isolation and inflict a crushing defeat on Putin.

On a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, US foreign policy analyst Graham T. Allison suggested that a freeze in conflict - with disputed borders settled as they are - would be the ideal outcome to avoid the risk of Putin deploying tactical nuclear weapons.

"Either there are facts on the ground that Putin can live with, or he will escalate the level of devastation," Allison said.

In turn, his statements were attacked by Lawrence Friedman, a British military historian and analyst, who cautioned against setting political conditions for the Ukrainians.

He noted that it is not clear that Putin - who has not yet been able to describe the invasion of Ukraine as a "war" - is willing to use nuclear weapons.

"Russia does not face an existential threat," he said. "Ukraine faces an existential threat. ...The Ukrainians will not stop fighting."

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