Service members from Chechen Republic are seen on positions during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 31. REUTERS/Chingis Kondarov
CNN: Russia shifting focus to show a victory by early May in eastern Ukraine, US officials say
Washington, DC (CNN)Russia has revised its Ukraine war strategy to focus on trying to take control of the Donbas and other regions in eastern Ukraine with a target date of early May, according to several US officials familiar with the latest US intelligence assessments.
More than a month into the war, Russian ground forces have been unable to keep control of areas where they have been fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to demonstrate he can show a victory, and eastern Ukraine is the place where he is most likely to be able to quickly do that, officials say. US intelligence intercepts suggest Putin is focused on May 9, Russia's "Victory Day," according to one of the officials.
May 9 is a prominent holiday on the Russian calendar, a day the country marks the Nazi surrender in World War II with a huge parade of troops and weaponry across Red Square in front of the Kremlin. The officials say Putin wants to be able to celebrate a victory -- of some kind -- in his war on that day.
But other officials note even if there is a Russian celebration, an actual victory may be further off.
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WNU Editor: I do not see any signs that the Ukraine war is going to end anytime soon. The above observation from a European diplomat is spot on ....
.... A European diplomat said that while the Kremlin is talking optimistically, Putin is preparing for a "Chechnya-style long, drawn-out war, because he, to a certain extent, has nowhere else to go on this."
The Second Chechen war took 9 months before it ended, followed by a nine-year insurgency. The war in Ukraine;s Donbas has been ongoing now for 8 years. I can easily seeing another few more years of warfare but enveloping much of eastern and southern Ukraine with continuous military strikes on Western Ukraine.