The Ukrainian president and some analysts say the Russian offensive has already begun, trying to cash in any breakthrough until the anniversary of the invasion as a symbolic victory, but Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to renegotiate with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
On a day when Kiev received the heads of diplomacy from Canada and Israel, as well as the leader of the opposition from the United Kingdom, the US chief of staff does not believe Moscow’s troops are successful, but also finds it “extremely difficult” for Ukrainian troops to to recapture the occupied territories.
“Modern weapons accelerate peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands,” Zelensky said.
In an interview with the BBC, Zelensky said giving up territory would only bring more Russian aggression, as opposed to a muscular response with Western weapons. “Modern weapons accelerate peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands,” he said. For the Ukrainian president, the Russian offensive, which was expected in the spring, is “already taking place from different directions”.
In Donbass, Moscow claimed to control all access routes to Bakhmut, something that mercenary chief Wagner denied. There are no conditions for encircling the enemy in the northern regions [de Bakhmut]said Yevgeny Prigozhin. The man who became known as the chief Putin does not hide that he is in conflict with the Russian military, as he has criticized “the monstrous bureaucracy” that he says delays any gains on the ground. Delays that postpone the capture of the city in the Donetsk region until “March or April,” according to Prigozhin.
The governor of Lugansk warns that Russian troops are gathering in the tens of thousands north of Kremina. “They see this task as the easiest and so they are preparing a massive offensive,” Sergii Gaiday wrote.
Given the latest developments, Sky News military analyst Sean Bell says there is no doubt that “Putin will try to throw everything he’s got into an attack”, and that he is likely to make gains on the battlefield due to the difference in human resources, though calculated that due to Moscow’s “World War I tactics”, its army lost about “40% of combat effectiveness”.
Without going into percentage estimates, Mark Milley, the top US military officer, does not believe any of the belligerents will be able to achieve the objectives. In an interview with Financial timesthe US chief of staff said it is “unlikely that Russia will supplant Ukraine. It just won’t happen,” he added.
On the other hand, he continued, “It is also very, very difficult for Ukraine to drive the Russians out of every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine this year. It’s not that it can’t happen, but it is extremely difficult. And it would in effect require the collapse of the Russian armed forces,’ Milley said.
In addition to the attacks in the east, Russia added another airstrike, at dawn, in several cities. According to Kiev, of the 36 missiles fired, only 16 have been intercepted, but there is no report of damage to critical infrastructure.
Source: DN
