Putin’s demonstrative and illegal “referendums” in the occupied territories of Ukraine ended in “annexation”. These territories were “admitted” to the Russian Federation at the end of September. On October 19, Putin declared martial law in the regions, which took effect the next day. Emil Castehelmi, a researcher of military history, considers this move a Russian ploy, reports www.iltalehti.fi.
“The occupied territories are no longer Ukraine from the point of view of Russia, but their own homeland. The situation changes significantly and now conscripts can be used in combat conditions. The use of conscripts in such a crude manner was one of the signs of what was to come and was foretold. The reason for this is Russia’s bad military experience. It suspended partial mobilization in places. For example, in the capital Moscow, the offices responsible for this were closed. Putin is afraid of the resistance of the big cities. On the other hand, the need for additional Russian troops has not disappeared. Ukraine is successfully leading a counter-offensive on the territories occupied by Russia. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions. It almost completely conquered the Luhansk region, but there, too, Ukraine managed to liberate the periphery.”
Casthelmi notes that Russia itself does not know exactly where its borders are. It has not been established whether it is about the occupied territories or the administrative areas as a whole. He says it is also unclear what the ultimate goal of the entire Russian “operation” is. It’s constantly changing.
The only thing that can be said for sure is that there will be a lot of damage and suffering to the civilian population. – added the expert.
Before Research Fellow, Council on International Relations, Max Booth called out Putin’s main mistakes, saying Russia was giving a master class in how not to go to war.
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