Russia on Sunday believed the goal of demilitarizing Ukraine, announced nearly 16 months ago when the neighboring country invaded, has already been “largely” achieved.
“Ukraine is using less and less its own weapons and more and more the weapons systems supplied by Western countries,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
As a result, one of the tasks proposed by the Russian side was “in fact largely fulfilled,” he said, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Peskov insisted that Ukraine was “heavily militarized” a year and a half ago, which cannot be said now.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, ordered what Moscow still calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine to “demilitarize and denazify” the country.
The operation was also designed to protect the Russian-speaking population of Donbass, in eastern Ukraine, a region made up of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Putin said this week that the objectives of the war had been adjusted during the campaign, but without any fundamental changes.
Russian-imposed Donetsk leader Denis Pushilin responded to the Kremlin spokesman’s comments, saying Peskov was only referring to weapons Ukraine already had that had been destroyed.
“In this part, demilitarization has been completed, but that does not mean that denazification should not be carried out,” Pushilin told the Russian news agency TASS.
In other statements quoted by RIA Novosti, the pro-Russian leader stressed that the completion of demilitarization will not prevent Russia from continuing to liberate areas in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia regions.
Russia annexed Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia in September, about seven months after the start of the war.
Moscow had already annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, when the separatist war in Donbass began, with Russian support.
Kyiv and the wider international community do not recognize Russian sovereignty in the five regions annexed to Ukraine.
Ukrainian counter-offensive underway
Ukraine is waging an ongoing counter-offensive into Russian-held areas, with many casualties on both sides, the British defense ministry said on Sunday.
“In the south, Russian forces often conduct relatively effective defensive operations. Both sides are suffering heavy casualties, with Russian losses likely to be the highest since the height of the Battle of Bakhmut in March,” he said.
In a daily assessment by the Ministry of Defence, British secret services said heavy fighting was taking place, especially “in the regions of Zaporijia, in the western part of Donetsk and around Bakhmut”.
“In all these areas, Ukraine continues to conduct offensive operations and has made small progress,” they added.
Information about the course of the war released by the two sides cannot be immediately verified by independent sources.
Source: DN
