What Putin's End-Game May Be With Appeal To Ukraine Army, Call For Peace
NDTV
In 2014, Russia not only seized Crimea but also backed rebels who set up separatist administrations in Donetsk and Luhans.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine looks designed to take Kyiv and create a land corridor south to the Black Sea, splitting the country into two, military analysts and former officials said, echoing the view of Ukraine's generals.
President Vladimir Putin may still seek some form of control over the entire country, they said, as he strives to stop Ukraine ever joining NATO. He is also not guaranteed victory. A senior U.S. defence official said on Friday that Russia was facing more resistance than it expected, not least in its advance on Kyiv.
The tactics of the advancing Russian troops point to a "flanking movement" from Ukraine's weakest points - its northern border with Belarus, and in the south Crimea, which Russian annexed eight years ago, with its huge naval base.
Such a strategy, if successful, could allow Moscow to control eastern Ukraine including its seaboard directly while reducing western Ukraine to a vassal state, and in turn reduce the financial costs of a long-term occupation, experts say.
