An attempt to explain what Moscow means by entering 2nd phase of the war attempts by Financial Times correspondent Polina Ivanova,
In a lengthy Twitter post, Ivanova notes:
The Russian military carried out a major briefing this afternoon, announcing that the war was entering a “second phase”. “Here is a summary of how Russia, at this point in the war, illustrates what it intended to do, why and where we are.”
Russian military held a big briefing this afternoon, announcing the war was entering a ‘second phase’.
Here’s a summary of how Russia, at this point in the war, is depicting what it set out to do, why, and where we’re at. (relaying their words, pls don’t shoot msnger) pic.twitter.com/1kS2VRK8iI
– Polina Ivanova (@polinaivanovva) March 25, 2022
First, the generals said that Russia had always intended only to “liberate” Donbass, that was what it intended to do. They had two options: to fight in the east, but to allow Kyiv to replenish its forces or to begin by blocking Ukrainian military capabilities throughout the country.
During a month of war, Russia has struck most of Ukraine’s military capabilities, the generals claimed, so it can now move on to the next phase, which will focus only on the east, which could include heavy bombardment.
After all, Russia never intended to occupy Kyiv, Kharkov and other cities, the generals said – these are not setbacks in other words, they are all part of the plan. And the plan was to divert the attention of Ukrainian forces while Russia-Donetsk-Lugansk had territorial gains in the east.
Many statements were made for non-targeting of political infrastructure, avoidance of civilian casualties.
“The Defense Ministry briefing also gave a new official figure for the number of Russian soldiers killed, the second statement from the Russian side during this war. “It is said that 1,351 were killed – the number is much lower than the Ukrainian and international estimates,” the Financial Times correspondent points out.
Earlier, Russia announced that the first phase of its military operation, as it calls it, in Ukraine has for the most part been completed and that it will now focus on “fully” liberating the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
The announcement seems to indicate that Russia may be shifting to more limited targets after being confronted with strong resistance of Ukraine in the first month of the war, according to Reuters.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that separatists, backed by Russia, now control 93% of the Luhansk region and 54% of the Donetsk region, the two areas that make up Donbass.
“The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have been achieved in general,” said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the operations department of the Russian General Staff.
“The combat potential of the Ukrainian armed forces has been significantly reduced, which makes it possible to focus our main efforts on achieving our main goal, the liberation of Donbas.”
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