One year on from the clash of the titans in Ukraine: Results and Lessons Learned (3)

Brussels by Elijah J. Magnier:

President Joe Biden’s statement that Russia would not include the four Ukrainian provinces announced by President Vladimir Putin in its objectives and that the war would last for “years” is no longer feasible. The Russian army has consolidated several fronts and is steadily advancing on the city of Bakhmut in order to avoid exhausting its military and to control the stage of the war chosen by the Kremlin, not by Ukraine and NATO. It is not impossible that the US plan to exhaust the Russian army has turned against NATO, where the Kremlin seems to be depleting the Western strategic weapons stockpiles and economy.

It is possible that, depending on the performance of the Russian and Ukrainian armies on the battlefield, Russia may consider extending its operations to the city of Odesa in order to close Ukraine’s only outlet to the Black Sea. Suppose the West continues to support Ukraine by sending more weapons. In that case, Russia is unlikely to stop squeezing the West’s arms industry and economy as inflation rises in Europe. So, from a military point of view, it’s only logical that Russia will not allow the Ukrainian army to mass its forces by being rearmed by NATO and attack Russian defences. Therefore, the Russian military would continue to advance and engage the enemy in order to exhaust its human and infrastructural resources.

To do this, the new Russian forces must first take full control of the remaining areas of Lugansk, more than forty per cent of Donetsk and what remains of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. Russia still has a lot of lands to grab if the Ukrainians continue to fight to the last man for the glory of NATO and US dominance, as President Zelensky revealed. It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian president has changed his language, telling the West that his men are fighting for their well-being and for US hegemony, a comment he has never openly shared, although his defence minister has expressed the same view in recent weeks.