London, Thanasis Gavos
Vladimir Putin is likely to prepare to abandon the ground attack target in Kyiv due to the fierce resistance of Ukrainian forces, according to a report in the newspaper ‘i’, citing Western security sources.
An official told the British newspaper that the chances of a Russian invasion of the city had decreased. “There is a question as to whether Moscow now intends to try to attack Kyiv,” he said.
The assessment is that Putin may conclude that he will not be able to occupy the Ukrainian capital without an unacceptably high number of casualties. “There comes a point where even Russia has to consider the cost of the victims,” ​​said one source.
The same sources point out that the Russians have not been able to occupy any Ukrainian city in the full sense of the word, and even those they now hold are facing strong resistance that prevents the imposition of controlled local authorities.
They point out, however, that one of the alternatives that the Russian President may resort to more frequently is the increasing brutality of the attacks or the attempt to “strangle” more cities.
Other British media outlets have quoted Western military officials as agreeing that the situation on the ground is not changing dramatically and that Ukrainian forces can continue to resist, bringing the Russians to a complete standstill.
“We continue to see that Russian forces are making small progress here and there, but they are not achieving any strategic achievement anywhere,” one official said.
He added: “Not only is the invasion not going as planned (by the Russians), but even as they have adapted to a rather more exhausting form of war they are still lagging behind.”
Officials say the estimate of 7,000 dead Russian soldiers “is by no means improbable”, but the question now is whether we will see even more barbarism than Putin.
They also said that the Russian planes were moving very carefully to avoid the Ukrainian air defense, that the Russian attempt to bring additional forces to the front was clearly not part of the original plan and showed the degree of Russian hardship and that the morale of the Russian military was excellent. low.
They noted, however, that Russia had not approached the point where it could no longer pursue its military objectives, and that the Ukrainians had suffered significant losses. Some officials said it was unclear how much more the Ukrainians could afford.
As for the negotiations, the assessment of the western officials was that both sides take them seriously, but the differences are big and the result is unknown.
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