You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
Sergei Rudskoi from the Russian Armed Forces just released a potentially transformative statement about Russia's objectives in Ukraine. Some more details /1
Rudskoi defined the mission in Ukraine to be the "liberation of Donbas" rather than "demilitarization and denazification" This aligns with Russia's recent focus on military efforts in eastern Ukraine and suggests that Russia has temporarily shelved its goal of regime change /2
According to Rudskoi, the "liberation of Donbas" is going well The Luhansk People's Republic controls 93% of Luhansk, while the Donetsk People's Republic controls 54% of Donetsk Russia also just created a land bridge between Crimea and Donetsk /3
Rudskoi also claimed success in Russia's initial demilitarization objective He claimed that Ukraine's air force and air defence systems "have been almost completely destroyed" Rudskoi also stated that Ukraine's navy "ceased to exist" /4
Rudskoi also highlighted Russia's infliction of casualties on Ukraine's forces 30,000 in total and 26% of the forces that were fighting in Donbas or 7,000 people Highly suspect figures but it confirms the successful demilitarization narrative /5
Even more intriguingly, Rudskoi appeared to have walked back regime change as an initial goal Rudskoi said that Russia could have "liberated Donbas" via a Donbas-centric operation or a nationwide operation. It chose the latter nationwide course /6
Given Russia's assurances that it would not invade Ukraine and claims of air power superiority, as well as exaggerations of ground warfare success, we should be skeptical But Rudskoi's comments suggest that Putin could ultimately define victory in a less maximalist way /7
What are they?
Potentially Tranformative
Hmm, not Shoigu?
I’m thinking Shoigu might have had some heart problems while falling from a very high window.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
