THE Russia after a series of failures especially around it Kyiv has now focused its interest on east his forehead war in Ukraine.
This push of forces in the Donbas area could signal a more prolonged conflict, the US says.
But what would he need? Vladimir Putin before he can claim his goal of “liberating” the old Industrial heart of Ukraine and is that possible?
The Russian forces have already caused a humanitarian catastrophe to the east, leveling it Mariupol but failed to defeat the Ukrainian army. Warning of a new attack in the east, President Volodymyr Zelensky promised: “We will fight for every measure of our land.”
Ukraine had already deployed its best-trained forces in east because of the eight-year war with separatists supported by Russia.
They are believed to have suffered heavy casualties, but remain a major challenge for the Russian invading army.
What is Donbass?
According to a BBC analysis, when President Putin talks about it Donbass, refers to the old coal and steel production area of ​​Ukraine. But it does mean the whole of the two great eastern regions, of Luhansk and Donetskextending beyond the Mariupol to the south to the northern border.
“The key is to be recognized by Kremlin “as a Russian-speaking part of Ukraine that is more Russian than Ukrainian,” said Sam Cranny-Evans of the Royal United Services Institute.
These areas can be in general Russian speakers, but are no longer pro-Russian. “Mariupol was one of the most pro-Russian cities in Ukraine and to level it is beyond my comprehension “, says the defense expert Konrad Muzyka, head of Rochan Consulting.
Last week, Russia claimed control 93% of the Luhansk region and 54% of Donetsk.
Russian forces are trying to encircle the Ukrainian army in the east. They have taken control of it Ίζιουμ a strategic city on the road between the second largest city in Ukraine, the Kharkiv and separatist areas – and have bombed a number of Luhansk cities, destroying apartment buildings and killing civilians. houses.
The cities now targeted by Russia have already experienced years of war since 2014 and can hardly pass a day without a deadly attack.
The civilians are evacuated before the Russian advance. Local leader Serhiy Haidai said 20 children were safely driven from the basement of a kindergarten in Lysychansk on Thursday and about 200 civilians boarded buses in Severodonetsk.
Russia’s next goal will be to push south to encircle Sloviansk, a city of 125,000 that had already experienced the war up close when it was occupied by Russian-backed forces in 2014 before being recaptured.
Because Putin wants to control Donbass
The Russian leader has repeatedly made the baseless accusation that Ukraine committed genocide in the east.
When the war broke out, two-thirds of the eastern territories were in Ukrainian hands. The rest were ruled by separatists, who created Russian-backed states during a war that began eight years ago.
If Russia were to conquer both large territories, then the next step could be to annex them, just as it did with Crimea in 2014.
Before invading Ukraine, President Putin recognized all two eastern regions as independent from Ukraine. The Russian puppet leader in Luhansk has already spoken of a referendum in the “near future”, although it seems absurd to do so in the midst of war.
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