Russian President Vladimir Putin adjusted his tactics about the war in Ukraine, given that the battles last more than three weeks: he no longer puts the goal to take the Ukrainian capital and wants to make Kyiv to pass southern and eastern territories. This tells WSJ with reference to the unnamed high-ranking officials of the United States.
Earlier, the United States and their allies considered the initial goals of President Putin’s seizure of Kyiv for several days and replacing the Government of the Zelensky pro-Russian regime. For three more than three weeks of fighting, it was not possible to implement it – according to WSJ, it supposedly prompted Putin to change tactics.
“Capturing in 2014, both the Crimea and the Dombass regions, Russia seeks to provide the” land bridge “between the western part of Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, as well as expand the Russian control over the Donbass,” says the source of the newspaper, which quotes BBC.
If these territorial requirements and the requirement of neutrality of Ukraine will be rejected, Putin is expected to try to keep all the lands that Russian troops occupied, and will continue to fight, saying unnamed officials from the United States. “Based on our military assessments, it seems that Putin returns to the siege tactics,” says US administration official.
At the same time, Putin can expand its military purposes if the actions of the Russian armed forces will be more successful.
“The status of the capital of Ukraine remains an open question, and, given the strong resistance of Ukraine, it is unclear whether the Russian military will be able to collect enough troops in order to tightly hide Kyiv and take it,” the interlocutors of the American newspaper say.
In its material Wall Street Journal notes that the interpretation of Putin’s strategy is not the result of the official assessment of the intelligence community, but is a point of view of certain US officials who have access to secret information.