Vladimir Putin changes Russia's strategy in the war against Ukraine. In the conflict that has been ongoing for over 1000 days, with the imminent arrival of Donald Trump on the scene, Moscow is changing its approach in the hottest area of operations, Donetsk.
It is the Institute for the study of war (ISW), the US think tank that monitors the war on a daily basis, which highlights the news, anticipated by the Russian president in his press conference on 19 December. “We advance every day, conquering square kilometers,” Putin said last week.
Field operations
The leader's words would indicate the new path confirmed by developments on the field: Moscow's troops aim to conquer territory without focusing on a particular objective. This is why, analysts observe, the advance towards the Pokrovsk logistics hub seems to have taken a back seat. The conquest of the city would allow control of key supply routes and would constitute the springboard for a further offensive towards the west.
Apparently, however, the script has changed: several units are no longer active north-east of Pokrovsk and this suggests that the border area between Donetsk and the Dnipropetrovsk oblast has appeared among the potential targets.
The losses recorded in recent weeks could also impact Moscow's strategy. In the operations conducted until mid-December in the direction of Pokrovsk, the Russians lost around 3 thousand men. Furthermore, according to the ISW, the invaders would have made ever greater use of civilian means for the transfer of troops: even at the level of means, therefore, Russia would have to live with an at least temporary emergency situation.
Because the objectives change
The new strategy would be linked to the need to obtain results to be transformed into cards to be played at the table of possible negotiations. The imminent arrival of Donald Trump in the White House may open a new phase in the conflict and the square kilometers of conquered territory become more important than the individual cities controlled.
Even in the Kremlin, the ISW observes, a now evident fact has been taken into account: advancing without specific objectives requires less effort and less time than complex operations to conquer strongholds, such as Pokrovsk, defended in an organized manner by the Ukrainian armed forces.
