Putin’s Russia looks increasingly desperate as Ukraine war drags: Analysts
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After strikes in residential areas left at least two dead, Ukraine’s emergency services stated that soldiers from Ukraine inspect the debris of an apartment building destroyed by fire.
Fadel Senna | Afp | Getty Images
The fourth week of Russia’s incursion in Ukraine is fast approaching. President Vladimir PutinThe forces of the east European country have used brutal force and destruction to make people flee, leaving millions without homes.
Russia’s economy has been weakened by the enormous weight of sanctions and war costs. It had largely failed in its attempts to win major military victories against Ukraine. Moscow is being watched closely by Putin and other close friends. They say that Russia’s siege and military campaigns are showing signs of weakness.
Kurt Volker, an ex-ambassador to the U.S. in NATO said that Russia is unlikely to win.
“They are bogged down. They have trouble getting supplies. They’re having problems with ammunition. They can’t take control of the main cities. They’re not moving. They’re resorting to desperate measures, such as asking Chinese help or calling for Syrians. [weapons]Supplies [to Ukraine]He noted that this raises the possibility of nuclear or biological use.
Volker stated that “these are all signs, I believe, desperation” to CNBC on Friday. Volker also said they feel squeezed between the military failures in the field and the economic collapse of Russia due the sanctions. He said, “And so they are being beaten by time now.”
Volker stated that Russia is desperate to win the Ukraine war and has turned to “barbarian tactics”, including targeting civilians, bombing cities to incite fear amongst the people.
Stalemate setting in
Russia has failed to take the capital Kyiv and to unseat President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, with a massive military convoy that snaked toward the cityIn recent weeks, they have remained scattered on the outskirts while the forces of Ukraine were able to resist Russian efforts to take over the country’s second biggest city. Kharkiv in the northeast, quite a feat given its proximity to the Russian border.
The western city of Lviv, meanwhile, has seen its airport targeted by Russian shelling, as well as a nearby military facility, but so far the city — which has become a major conduit for Ukrainians fleeing to eastern Europe — has been relatively unscathed.
In reality, Kherson was the only city that fell to Russian forces after its invasion lasted several weeks.
Analysts believe that Ukraine’s forces will be able to resist, stop and possibly even defeat Russia’s advances if they are confronted with such a scale and resistance spirit.
Volker stated, “I have been in contact with people in Kharkiv, Lviv, and Kyiv, and they were motivated, really determined, which is why they feel confident, because Russia isn’t making gains.”
Analysts fear war has entered an era of long-lasting, prolonged fighting. There is little Russian force gained and much that Ukraine concedes.
CNBC’s Michal Baranowski said Monday that the war was at an impasse. He is director of Germany Marshall Fund Warsaw.
Russia was looking for quick victories, basically Blitzkriegs, to run quickly to Kyiv and to decapitate, in fact, the Ukrainian government within the first few days. It failed and the strategy and tactic have been changed to a very grueling and grinding war.
According to him, Russia now relies more heavily on its air power, and is hitting more civilian targets like the theater at Mariupol’s southern port city, which was besieged, from where civilians are sheltering. A huge sign was placed on the ground outside the theater warning children that they were inside the structure. It was still hit. In spite of all evidence, however, the Kremlin consistently denied it has targeted civilians.
Baranowski claimed that Russia was bombing civilian locations in Ukraine to try and break the will.
CNBC has reached out to Russia’s Foreign Ministry seeking comment, but has not received a reply.
Fight for our homeland
Mariupol is the symbol or emblem of Ukraine’s resilience and strength in face of Russia’s invasion.
For weeks, the city was under intense shelling. There has also been acute water, food and food shortages which have led to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing in desperate circumstances. Although many were able to escape the badly damaged city by last week’s shelling, street fighting continued at the weekend. Thousands of civilians remain trapped inside the city.
Despite its bombardment and suffering, Mariupol has refused Russia’s demands — and a deadline set for 5 a.m. on Monday — to surrender.
Russia’s ultimatum not to give up arms, which it had stated would let more civilians leave Ukraine if the latter agreed to surrender, has now been rejected.
“Mariupol almost destroyed it’s Aleppo now in the middle of Europe.CNBC spoke Monday with Oleksiy Goncharenko, Ukrainian lawmaker.
Putin and his troops appear to resort to siege tactics in order to weaken and undermine Ukrainian civilians and cities. This is due to the size, spirit and strength of Ukraine’s resistance.
Our army has held the ground and he can’t get any further. They [the Russian army]They’ve been at 25km from Kyiv approximately two weeks ago, and they couldn’t get further.
He added that there had been counter-offensives in Kyiv as well. These are the areas where Russian forces have tried to link up the Crimean Peninsula (which they annexed in 2014.) with pro-Russian regions to the east. It is now a bridge between the land and Crimea.
Goncharenko stated that Russia had changed tactics in response to Ukraine’s resistance and used more terror and scare tactics such as mass, more indiscriminate bombardment.
He claimed that Ukrainians had the ability to resist Putin’s advances, but needed more support from the West.
“It is our land, it is our country. There are no other choices. Putin underestimated and, I believe, the entire world underestimated him. The news was at the beginning. [of the war]With U.S. intelligence giving us only 96 hours, Kyiv would fall after that. But I can promise you, Kyiv won’t fail and we will never surrender,” he stated.
He pointed out that over 100,000 people joined Ukraine’s territorial defence force (a civil militia), but he also echoed Zelenskyy’s request for stronger sanctions, more weapons, and more airpower to defeat Russia.
“Thousands of Ukrainians are taking up arms, we will stop Putin — but what will be the price for us and for the whole world,” he said.
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