A month into the invasion, the advance of Russian forces in Ukraine remains slow, and on Friday there were several signs pointing to a shift in Russian strategy.
In fact, the Russian Defense Ministry has issued a statement saying the “first phase” of the “military operation” has been completed and Russian forces are now focusing on “liberating” the easternmost region of Donbass. The ad has been played various analysts as a kind of acknowledgment of Russia’s difficulties in advancing from the Donbass to the southern, northern and northeastern cities. Focusing on the Donbass, at least in the short term, all Russia could think of was capturing Mariupol, the largest city in the region not yet controlled by Russian forces.
First of all, this hypothesis is confirmed by the stalemate at the siege of the capital Kyiv: according to various sources, the Russian troops have meanwhile halted in front of the capital and are concentrating the bombing raids on the outskirts, with no intention of trying to enter the city.
Also on Friday, a senior US Defense Department official said the Russian military would no longer have control of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. This would be extremely important news, since Kherson was the first major city captured by Russia at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, and a loss would confirm the difficulties of the last days of the Russian forces. However, the news has not yet been confirmed by Ukrainian authorities.