Ukraine War: Moscow’s Strategy has changed after US and western powers supplied Ukraine with long range weapons, he said.
In the Ukraine War, Russia will have to push Ukraine further from the frontline to ensure its own security, Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. The Russian Foreign Minister was being interviewed by the Russian State media. Lavrov implied that Russian forces may seize more Ukrainian territory after the fall of Donbas. According to him, Russia’s strategy has changed after western countries supplied Ukraine with long range rocket systems.
Russia May Fully Occupy Southern Kherson and Zaporizhya
“We cannot allow Ukraine controlled by Zelensky to possess weapons that would pose a threat to our territory”, he said. The geography is different now, he remarked, adding Southern Kherson and Zaporizhya regions to Russian war aims.
“It is far from being only DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic), it is also Kherson region, Zaporizhya region and a number of other territories. And this process continues, it continues steadily and persistently,” Lavrov said. Moscow already occupies parts of both these regions. The President (Vladimir Putin) was very clear as you noted: De Nazification and demilitarization in the sense that there should be no threat to our security. And this objective remains”, he further added.
The Russians had invaded Ukraine in February and occupied the eastern and southern part of the country. However, they failed to occupy their original aim, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. And instead of Kyiv, they made “liberation of Donbas” their objective. So far Lavrov has ruled out any plans for a dialogue with Ukraine. “We handed them a document which, I emphasize again, was based on their logic. They got this document on April 15, and we’ve heard nothing from them
US Supplied HIMARS, a Cause of Russian Concern
In his interview with Margarita Simoyan of Russia Today (RT), Lavrov particularly mentioned US supplied HIMARS. Ukraine has reported some success using it and this has irked Russia. For two days Ukrainian forces struck occupied Kherson with US made weapons. It particularly attacked Antonivskyi bridge on which Russia relies to supply captured areas in the west bank of Kherson
Earlier this month Ukraine targeted occupied areas in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. Available satellite images suggest that Ukrainian targeting of Russian held infrastructure has been effective.
Meanwhile, Sergei Lavrov described western actions of supplying weapons to Ukraine as “impotent anger” and a “desire to make things worse”.
USA on Russian Plans regarding Ukraine War
The US defence establishment has noted Russian plans for expansion in Ukraine. John Kirby, the US National Security Spokesman said: Russia was already making plans to take vast swathes of Ukraine. Kirby further accused Moscow of using the same playbook it did once when Russia invaded Crimea.
Russia was then installing illegitimate pro-Russian officials to run the occupied regions of Ukraine. These new “administrations” would then organize local referendums on becoming part of Russia. The results of those votes would be used by Russia to claim annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory, he said. The Russians annexed Crimea in 2014 and hastily organized a referendum. The international community saw the referendum to be illegal. Many supporters of Ukraine had boycotted it and the process was neither free, nor fair. Russia has silenced any opposition to the vote in its favour in Crimea and it may do the same in Ukraine too. Mr Kirby promised quick response from the US and Nato if anything like that ever happens. Meanwhile, Mykhailio Podolyak, advisor to the Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff has repeatedly called for more HIMARS weapons to be sent to Kyiv.
(Inputs, BBC, CNN)
