- According to military officials, the focus is on breakaway eastern regions
- Russia says Ukraine’s combat potential is ‘significantly reduced’
- Russia speaks of 1,351 dead soldiers, Ukraine speaks of a higher actual number
LONDON, March 25 – In a stripped-down formulation of its war aims, Russia said on Friday that the first phase of its military operation was largely complete and it would focus on the full “liberation” of Ukraine’s breakaway eastern Donbass region.
The announcement appeared to suggest Moscow may be moving to more limited targets after encountering fierce Ukrainian resistance in a month of war.
The Defense Ministry said Russian-backed separatists now controlled 93 percent of Ukraine’s Luhansk region and 54 percent of Donetsk region. Together they form the Donbass.
“The main goals of the first phase of the operation were generally achieved,” Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff, said in a speech.
“The combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been significantly reduced, which makes it possible to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbass.”
A senior diplomatic source in Moscow described this as a face-saving move and a possible prelude to a Russian withdrawal. Since invading Ukraine from the north, east and south on February 24, their forces have stalled and failed to capture a major city.
“Their war objectives are/were much broader than Donbass, leaving their forces divided by ill-coordinated attacks by unprepared troops on multiple fronts,” the source said.
“I had anticipated the possibility of refocusing efforts on the Donbass, but while Putin’s rhetoric remains maximalist, we need to see more evidence on the ground.”
“DEMILITARIZE AND DENAZIFY”
President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces are on a special operation to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine.
The West and Kyiv call this a false pretext to invade a democracy and say its real aim is to overthrow the government.
Russia has also said it will insist that Ukraine accept the loss of Crimea, which Russia captured in 2014, and recognize Donbass as independent, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army for eight years.
Ukraine says it is ready to negotiate an end to the war but will not surrender or bow to ultimatums.
Rudskoi said the Russian military considered limiting its operation to just the Donbass but opted to expand all of Ukraine to damage its military infrastructure and tie up forces to prevent them from reinforcing the east.
Russia does not exclude the storming of cities, he said, but when its military tasks are completed, “our forces and resources will be concentrated on the main thing – the complete liberation of Donbass”.
Rudskoi said 1,351 Russian soldiers died in the operation and 3,825 were injured. According to the Ukrainian military, around 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in action. Continue reading
Reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London and Alexander Winning in Johannesburg; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne