As part of the second phase of the military operation, Russia plans to take complete control of the Donbas region in southern and eastern Ukraine, Archyde.com reported on the 22nd, citing Russian state-run Interfax reports.
According to reports, the Central Command of the Russian Armed Forces said on the same day that it plans to build an overland passage between the Crimean Peninsula and Donbas, which it had taken over in 2014.
The war in Ukraine, which began with the Russian invasion on February 24, has entered its second month and is protracted.
The Russian army, which had initially advanced from northeast Ukraine and aimed at the capital Kiiu, announced that it would retreat from the northern army, including Kiiu, and concentrate its firepower in the southeast, in peace negotiations with Ukraine on the 29th of last month when the war situation was not favorable.
Donbas (Luhansk, Donetsk), which is classified as a ‘Norse-speaking region’ because of its large number of Russian residents, is also the cause of this war, which President Vladimir Putin announced just before the invasion began on February 24. Putin claimed that genocide had been carried out in Donbass once morest Russians.
In addition to Donbass, there have been speculations that Russia will focus on building an overland route connecting the Crimea peninsula, which Russia has annexed in this war, with the interior. This is why Mariupol, the southernmost port city of Donetsk, and nearby Melitopol, have been heavily attacked by Russian troops since the start of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would not negotiate the renunciation of Donbas for a ceasefire, given that there was no guarantee that Russia would stop aggression even if some territories were handed over.
“We will fight to defend every metre of our territory,” Zelensky said.
(Seoul = News 1)
