War on Ukraine: “Russia aims for significant achievements by May 9”

war against Ukraine
“Russia aims for significant achievements by May 9”

According to US data, Russia has lost a quarter of the combat strength that the country had concentrated in the region before the attack on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense expects the war to escalate in the coming weeks.

The British Ministry of Defense assumes that Russia wants to announce “significant successes” in the war against Ukraine by May 9th. In Russia, this date is celebrated with military parades as “Victory Day” over Nazi Germany.

The approaching date could have an impact on Russian warfare, writes the British Ministry on Twitter. Russian President Vladimir Putin and state propaganda portray the war of aggression against Ukraine as a fight against fascists. A “victory” by May 9 would fit this narrative.

Earlier this week, according to the Ukrainian general staff, Russia launched the offensive in the Donbass that had been expected since Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv region. This morning, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the capture of the embattled city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Only in the city’s steelworks were 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers holed up. Putin said the complex should not be stormed. “We have to think about the lives and health of our soldiers and officers,” he said. According to the Ukrainian army, Russia has now lost 21,000 soldiers in its invasion.

“75 percent of Russian combat power left”

Instead of storming it, Putin ordered a blockade of the steelworks. The Russia expert Janis Kluge from the Science and Politics Foundation explainedshould Russia plan a chemical weapons attack on the tunnel system beneath the plant, this announcement would be the first step in that direction.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense estimates that Russia lost a quarter of its combat capability in its invasion. About 75 percent of the “available combat capability” that Putin amassed before the start of the war in Ukraine said a Pentagon representative at a press briefing in Washington.

Losses ranged from infantry to artillery and air force to ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. The Pentagon representative did not provide any information about Russian soldiers killed.


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