Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday that the first phase of its military operation was “generally” complete, saying the country will focus on the “liberation” of
Ukraine’s eastern
Donbas region.
The defence ministry stated Russian-backed separatists now controlled 93% of
Luhansk and 54% of
Donetsk, the self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine’s east. The two together are commonly known as the Donbas region.
“The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been accomplished,” Sergei Rudskoi, the head of the Russian general staff’s main operational directorate said during a briefing.
In Friday’s announcement, Russia also appeared to hint that
Moscow’s invasion of
Ukraine may be turning to more limited objectives, adding that the main goal of the operation was the “liberation of the Donbas”.
“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 Donbas.”
Russia has been shifting its objectives in Ukraine throughout the war. The Russian president,
Vladimir Putin, earlier said that the “denazification” of the Ukrainian leadership – generally understood as regime change – was the main motivation for the invasion.
Michael Kofman, the director of the Russia studies programme at the CNA thinktank, on Friday tweeted that the military briefing suggested Russia would focus on “taking as much of the Donbas as possible,” while claiming Donbas was always the main goal of what Kremlin refers to a “special military operation”.
“I had a hypothesis that the more minimal aims Moscow could have at this point is to try to take all of the Donbas, pursue some political settlement, then turn around and claim that’s what this operation was really all about in an effort to salvage something & declare victory,” Kofman tweeted.
