PUtin says capture of Mariupol steel mill is ‘inexpedient’ In truth, it is out of reach for Russian forces, but Kremlin propaganda cannot admit that. Putin’s order to desist from the large industrial plant is another admission of failure.
Despite brutal warfare and material superiority, the Russian side failed to defeat the Ukrainian defenders of Azovstal. Putin is therefore satisfied with a partial victory: otherwise he declares the city conquered and apparently wants to neutralize the remaining fighters by encircling them.
The land bridge to the Crimea
It is not certain whether this will be enough to permanently bring the strategically important port city under Russian control. But the process shows two things: Putin is paying more attention to his expenses than the Kremlin’s aggressive rhetoric often suggests. And he continues to take advantage of controlling the domestic narrative. There is no longer a free press in Russia, so he can interpret almost any military situation as he sees fit.
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At the moment he is apparently concerned with creating the land bridge to the Crimea even under unfavorable conditions, for which control of Mariupol would be an important prerequisite. Parallel to the advance in the Donbass, a “referendum” on the establishment of a “people’s republic” in Kherson would be a further step towards consolidating Russian territorial gains.
This is a dangerous development for Ukraine, because it is not to be expected that Putin will ever return conquered territories. Washington is reacting more vigorously than Berlin, as the new package of military aid for Kyiv shows.
It is correct that the Federal Government pays attention to the needs of the Bundeswehr and to the rapid deployment of the equipment supplied. A ring exchange of heavy weapons with Eastern European allies, as announced by Lambrecht, would be a sensible compromise. But that should now happen quickly, Germany has hesitated too long.