First Sign Of Defeat? After One Month Russia Narrows Its Aim In Ukraine To 'Liberating' Donbass

After spending billions, costing thousands of lives on both sides, displacing millions of civilians, and destroying entire cities in the name of de-nazifying Ukraine, Russia seems to have narrowed its goals.

Amid reports of the massive casualties, the Russian troops have suffered in the one month and rapidly depleting supplies and morale, Moscow on Friday said that its aim will be to liberate the breakaway eastern Donbass region.

AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the February invasion to destroy Ukraine's military and topple pro-Western President Volodymyr Zelensky, bringing the country under Russia's sway.

However, Sergei Rudskoi, a senior general, suggested a considerably reduced "main goal" of controlling Donbass, an eastern region already partly held by Russian proxies.

AP

"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 Donbass," said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate.

Rudskoi however insisted that the operation so far was a success.

He said Ukraine's military has been severely degraded and that Russia hadn't seized cities in order to "prevent destruction and minimise losses among personnel and civilians".

Reuters

After the initial success which was heavily aided by Russia's air power and missile capabilities, the troops on the ground have so far made little to no progress on their own in capturing any major cities including capital Kyiv.

The limited communication and poorly organized invasion also made the massive Russian troops sitting ducks for the Ukrainian military who used the home advantage and intercepts to single out top commanders.

Russian Generals killed

As of Friday, an unprecedented seven Russian generals were killed in just one month of the war.

Lieutenant General Yakov Rezanstev was the seventh top-ranking official to die in Ukraine and there were also reports that a colonel was "deliberately" run over by his own men.

NY Post

While Russia has not acknowledged these deaths, for the only second time in over a month Moscow has spoken about the toll its troops suffered in Ukraine.

On Friday, Russian authorities put the military death toll since the start of the invasion, at 1,351.

This is far below Western estimates, with one senior NATO official saying between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have died.

AP

Apart from its men, Russia has also suffered massive losses in terms of arms and aircraft, making a multi-front war difficult to continue.

According to researchers, one day of war is costing Russia as much as $20 billion and given the extent of the sanctions, Moscow can't prolong the war for a long time.

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