Russia claims to shift focus in new phase of war

The Deputy Chief of the Russian general staff announced that his troops had accomplished a majority of their “main objective” of what the Kremlin has been referring to as a “special military operation.”

A Ukrainian Soldier assigned to 1st Battalion, 80th Airmobile Brigade exits a BTR armored vehicle. (Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Tarr)

Pentagon press secretary, John Kirby, told reporters that “it’s hard to know” what’s really going on. He said, “It could be a negotiating tactic. Maybe he [Putin] wants to secure more ground where he already has been fighting now for eight years so that he can gain leverage at the negotiating table. We’re not sure.”

Russian Colonel-General, Sergei Rudskoi spoke more certainly on the matter, saying that his forces have “considerably reduced” fighting power and combat strength of the Ukrainian resistance allowing Russian forces to “focus on the main goal, liberation of Dunbas”.

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, responded to Rudskoi by once again opening the table to another round of negotiations. Zelenskyy made clear however, that Ukraine would not consider surrendering any Ukrainian territory to Russia.

Zelenskyy said, ” The territorial integrity of Ukraine should be guaranteed… That is, the conditions must be fair, for the Ukrainian people will not accept them otherwise.”

Former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, tweeted that there is “little evidence on the battlefield to suggest that Putin is just focused on Donbas now”.

Additionally, senior Pentagon officials stated on Friday that it’s unclear whether or not Russia’s self-proclaimed shift in focus is sincere or yet another attempt at misdirection.

Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have speculated that Russia’s reported shift from a large scale ground invasion to a specialized focus on Donbas “were likely aimed mainly at a domestic Russian audience and do not accurately or completely capture current Russian war aims and planned operations”.