A woman walks past huge placards bearing images of Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading “Russia does not start wars, it ends them”and “We will aim for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine” in the city center of Simferopol, Crimea, on March 4, 2022.
Stringer | AFP | Getty Images
Russia’s military strategy in Ukraine is in the spotlight after it claimed it was going to change tack, but after multiple false flags and broken promises from Russia there are major doubts over the Kremlin’s real intentions.
There was surprise and suspicion in some quarters on Friday when Russia announced that the first phase of its “special military operation” (as it calls its invasion of Ukraine) was complete. It said it would now refocus on Ukraine’s breakaway eastern Donbas region, where there are two pro-Russian self-proclaimed republics.
“The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been accomplished,” Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate, said in a speech Friday. “The combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been considerably reduced, which ... makes it possible to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbas.”
The apparent change of strategy surprised analysts, and was seen as an indication that Russia is looking to scale back its invasion of Ukraine.
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