Posted on 03/19/2024 9:14:25 AM PDT by Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been reelected in a landslide victory in an election with big turnout, so he comes fortified into a new phase of the war in Ukraine.
While celebrating 10 years of the return of Crimea to Russian rule, Putin said that Moscow ‘will not relent’ in Ukraine, and plans to create a buffer zone to protect itself against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids.
Associated Press reported:
“The Kremlin’s forces have made battlefield progress as Kyiv’s troops struggle with a severe shortage of artillery shells and exhausted front-line units after more than two years of war. The front line stretches over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) across eastern and southern Ukraine.
Advances have been slow and costly, and Ukraine has increasingly used its long-range firepower to hit oil refineries and depots deep inside Russia. Also, groups claiming to be Ukraine-based Russian opponents of the Kremlin have launched cross-border incursions.
‘We will be forced at some point, when we consider it necessary, to create a certain ‘sanitary zone’ on the territories controlled by the (Ukrainian government)’, Putin said late Sunday. This ‘security zone would be quite difficult to penetrate using the foreign-made strike assets at the enemy’s disposal’.”
Having secured his fifth six-year term, Putin talked about the goals in Ukraine.
“Putin again warned the West against deploying troops to Ukraine. A possible conflict between Russia and NATO would put the world ‘a step away’ from World War III, he said.
[…]
Commenting on the prospects for peace talks with Kyiv, Putin reaffirmed that Russia remains open to negotiations but won’t be lured into a truce that will allow Ukraine to rearm.”
Some envision the ‘buffer zone’ to look like this: the blue area has been conquered, and the area in red would be the ‘sanitary zone’.
Mewanhile, Russian forces continue their offensives to break Ukraine’s defenses ahead of a renewed push planned for summer, according to the American Think Tank Institute for the Study of War.
Newsweek reported:
“The independent Washington, D.C.-based think tank said Friday that Russia’s troops are trying ‘to maintain the tempo’ of operations in Ukraine’s east. This is to stop Kiev’s forces from stabilizing their defensive lines, which analysts have said is not happening quickly enough.
As they continue their offensives, Russian forces are readying themselves for a new push in summer and are concentrating on driving as far west of Avdiivka as they can before Ukraine establishes a harder-to-penetrate line in the area, the ISW said.
Following Russia’s capture of Avdiivka, in the Donetsk oblast last month, one ISW map shows how Russia forces had this week captured the town Nevelske and advanced in Pervomaiske to the southwest, and Berdychi to the northwest. Another map of the Luhansk oblast showed Russian advances on Synkivka, north of Bakhmut.”
That’s what the Eastern Bloc countries were all about.
Ukraine can and should be another Northern Ireland.
For every missile strike on Ruzzian territory and for every burning Russian refinery or munitions factory ,Putin moves the border of that buffer zone West 10 miles
It should be obvious to anyone who rubs two brain cells together that it is hopeless. This will turn out like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan all in one neat little bundle.
Looks like Queen Vicky Nuland miscalculated with her little “surprise” that killed a bunch of Ukie troops short of the Russian border...
A better way to stop those attacks is to leave Ukraine and go home in peace. There would be no attacks if not for Russia’s invasion.
All annexed, every inch, will remain part of Russia. Nothing will change that. Don't like that fact? Get over it.
Ukraine will stop attacking Russia when it withdraws from Ukraine back to the internationally recognized borders. You know, the ones that Russia pledged to honor.
So, that means the Russians will have to take more territory to protect their borders. So be it.
If Russia had not invaded another country it would not have needed to take land to protect its borders. All you are doing is rationalizing Russian aggression. Is this worth the cost that Russia is paying for all of this?
Russia or China had done something similar in Mexico, WE would have invaded, justifiably so.
If Ukraine had abided by the Minsk Accords, this war wouldn't be occurring.
If and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas all year long. But, none of the ifs or buts change reality -- which is that any annexed territory will remain part of Russia. Nothing will change that.
The present government was elected by the Ukrainian people, not installed by the CIA.
The hostility among the Ukrainians traces back to centuries of Russian domination. It is not something manufactured by the US government.
The language law was no more onerous than that of Quebec. And no, the Russian language was not banned.
Ukraine was never a threat to Russia, and Putin knows it.
Finally, Ukraine did abide by the Minsk Accords by passing the law granting autonomy to Donbas and was preparing to hold the required referenda. It was Russia who violated the accords by not withdrawing its forces, not handing over the border to Ukrainian control, and by blocking the referenda that Ukraine was planning.
Enough with your Russian propaganda.
If Ukraine had recognized that and let those areas go, there would have been no war.
The reason that Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk did not participate in the elections is because of Russian occupation.
If Russia had lived up to its obligation to recognize Ukrainian sovereignty and had not twice invaded, there would be no war. This war purely the result of Putin’s decision.
For EIGHT YEARS the people in Donetsk and Lugansk, especially ethnic Russians, had been persecuted and killed by the Ukrainian nationalist regime that took over.
Those in Crimea had sought independence from Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union.
You are completely ignorant of the region.
There are many on the left who accuse America of being hostile to the ethnic Mexican population in its southern states. Are you saying Mexico would be justified in invading the US? If foreigners don’t like living in a country, they can leave.
Polls, even from Western sources, showed Putin’s approval rating to be more than 80% before the election.
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