![]() ![]() Most Western analysts don't take that view, on the basis that tough dictatorships are very hard to dislodge, despite repeated failures.īut no one in the West can control or much influence what happens in Russia as a result of this war.Īnd a hard-nosed view has emerged over recent months in most - though not all - Western capitals that we cannot baby Putin along by preventing him from feeling humiliated or desperate in his failures. They think it could start as fragmentation in the Caucasus regions and/or by the flight of capital from the centre as more and more oligarchs peel away from Putin's failures. In the past 120 years the combination of failure in war coupled with an economic crisis has always produced a change of government in Moscow, and many Ukrainians believe they can engineer this again if Russia is seen to lose in Ukraine and is suffering all the economic hardships of increasing sanctions. That is one of the outcomes Kyiv is hoping for. Security analyst Professor Michael Clarke, former director-general at the Royal United Services Institute,answers. Would it, he asked, lead to a potential internal fragmentation and conflict? Sky News reader Craig asked what would happen to Vladimir Putin and Russia itself if Ukraine's counteroffensive was successful and Russia was defeated. We have been putting your questions to our experts and military analysts. "The overall aim, however, is to destroy the capability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to launch a successful counterattack or at least to make it as difficult as possible." ![]() "Recently leaked documents suggested that Ukraine is in a difficult situation regarding air defence capabilities, and the Russians might be trying to exploit this," Dr Miron explained. "In other words, while we cannot be sure where exactly the Russians will strike, it will most likely be somewhere in Western Ukraine, far away from lines of contact."Īnother tactic they might be employing is to fire missiles and drones for Ukrainian air defences to intercept, and therefore deplete the missile reserves used by its air defence systems. "It is to assume that the Russians will want to target logistical nodes, command and control centres, ammunition depots, etc. "The missiles (Kalibrs, Kinzhals, and Iskander-M) are expensive and difficult to manufacture, so the ministry of defence must be careful when planning the next strikes," she said. Hence, this is the next best option," she told Sky News.ĭr Miron believes these sort of strikes will continue, but Russia will have to use its resources "mindfully". "We know that Russia's nuclear triad has lost its deterrent capability. While the attacks were intense, defence studies expert Dr Marina Miron has said they were not surprising. Throughout the course of the day we have been bringing you information about a flurry of overnight attacks on the Ukrainian capital. ![]() This was seen in the early hours of this morning, when Kyiv came under a number of assaults by missiles that even when intercepted were not completely neutralised, Mr Ingram said. He added that Russia was getting "more angry" and using "big beasts with lots of explosives" to target Ukraine. He explained that the movements were "focusing the Russians militarily on the city itself and focusing them psychologically so that they can prepare wherever the counteroffensive is going to be". "With the Wagner private military company trying to track through the city, Russian regular forces to the north and south of the city, the Ukrainians have been counterattacking to the north and south of the city," he said. Ukraine's much-anticipated counteroffensive hasn't started yet, but a "shaping operation" is under way, a former senior military intelligence officer has told Sky News.ĭiscussing the situation on the ground following reports that Ukrainian forces were making headway in the eastern city of Bakhmut, Philip Ingram said the "big ground thrust" was yet to come, and that Ukraine was instead focusing on its operations in Bakhmut.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |