The Russian authorities have announced plans to occupy and, apparently, annex, not only the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, but also Kherson and Zaporozhye.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has acknowledged that the Kremlin is waging a war of conquest in Ukraine. He said the “geographical tasks” of the Russian war were expanding. Following Putin’s “hawk”, Dmitry Medvedev said that the Russian army intends to “push the Ukrainian troops not only from Donetsk, but also wider.” Correspondent.net saying what it means.
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Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the “geographic purpose” of Russia’s war against Ukraine has changed. He spoke about this in an interview with Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan.
According to him, due to the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine, the Russian authorities decided to carry out “denazification and demilitarization” not only on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“Now the geography is different. It is far from being only DNR and LNR, it is also the Kherson region, the Zaporozhye region and a number of other territories, and this process continues, and continues and continues ,” Lavrov said.
It follows from his words that “the geography of “special operations” is allegedly changing based on “military threats from the territory of Ukraine.” Lavrov added that if the West gives Ukraine of long-range weapons – “these highmars, chtoli,” then “the borders will move further.”
As Lavrov said, Russia cannot allow the part of Ukraine’s territory “controlled by Zelensky or whoever replaces him” to have weapons capable of threatening Russian territory and quasi-republics.
By the end of March, there had been “different geography” in the talks in Istanbul, he said. “Our readiness to accept the Ukrainian proposal is based on that geography, on the geography of the end of March 2022,” Lavrov explained.
Recall that at the end of March, Russian troops were driven out of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other power units. Recently, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that they themselves left “to implement the agreements that were actually reached in Istanbul.”
Lavrov also emphasized that Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine was inevitable, and that he even “felt relieved” after the February 24 invasion.
Lavrov gave the biggest official signal yet that Russia plans to annex southern Ukraine.
“Now the geography has changed. It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk, it’s Kherson, Zaporizhia, and some other territories. And it’s an ongoing process, constant and insistent.” pic.twitter.com/xN6IMmAr5R
— max seddon (@maxseddon) July 20, 2022
On Tuesday, the prominent chairman of the Russian State Duma committee on international affairs, the leader of the LDPR, Leonid Slutsky, who took part in the talks in Istanbul, said that Russia will impose tougher conditions on Ukraine if it continues the conversation. “Today, the conditions on our part will be completely different, more strict,” said Slutsky.
Lavrov added that “denazification and demilitarization” remain tasks of the Russian army in the war against the Ukrainians, “so that there are no threats to our security, military threats from the territory of Ukraine.”
On July 21, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, in a meeting allegedly with Ukrainian residents who were taken by Russian terrorists to the Rostov region, announced the Kremlin’s intentions “to transfer the Ukrainian troops not only from Donetsk. , but now also more widely.” “Hold on [“спецоперацию”] we will, of course. There is no other option,” he said.
How Ukraine and the West responded to Lavrov’s statements
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Lavrov’s statement about Russia’s desire to annex more Ukrainian territory indicates that the Kremlin wants blood, not negotiations.
“The Russian Foreign Minister’s recognition of his dreams of seizing more Ukrainian land proves that Russia rejects diplomacy and focuses on war and terrorism. The Russians want blood, not negotiations. I call on all partner to tighten sanctions against the Russian Federation and accelerate the supply of weapons to Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President, suggested that not only geography, but also international law was poorly taught at MGIMO, where Lavrov studied.
“Otherwise, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry may know that war is war, occupation is occupation, and the destruction of a country is genocide. But Lavrov’s geography will be taught by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and long-range artillery. A little patience,” he wrote.
The words of the Russian minister were also heard in the West. A remarkable reaction was said by the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, who the previous day announced new deliveries of HIMARS to Ukraine and other weapons.
“I am sure that the Ukrainian leadership will be pleased to hear Lavrov’s confirmation of the effectiveness of not only this system (HIMARS – ed.), but also how they (APU – ed.) use this system,” he says.
The head of the Pentagon noted that Lavrov’s words did not surprise anyone in the West. “You have to know who he’s talking to. It’s not a surprise to any of us, or to anyone in Europe or anyone in the world. I think he’s talking to people in Russia,” he suggested during the briefing.
He also recalled the statements of Putin, who claimed that “special military operations” were focused on Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“His actions proved otherwise. And we know, and our allies and partners know, that he has great ambitions. And Lavrov just confirmed it. So, again, it’s not surprising for those who participated in this or even watching it from afar maybe it was a surprise to the Russians, who Putin lied to all along,” Austin said.
A similar opinion is shared in Germany. Lavrov’s statement was “just new propaganda,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock.
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“Russia uses new arguments every time. Now they claim it’s because of military support (of Ukraine by the West – ed.). But they have attacked Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine before,” Burbock recalled .
He noted that military assistance to the West is a joint effort of all NATO member states and added that he hoped for an early delivery of the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer and other weapons from Germany and the Netherlands, as well also an anti-missile defense system by the end of this summer.
What do the words about “expanding geography” mean?
Ukrainian intelligence has another explanation for the new statements from Moscow. Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said that they testify to the preparation of the ground for the annexation of the occupied territories in southern Ukraine.
He said that Russia in the field of information has built its “special operation” in the fight against the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, because the declared goal is “help” to the terrorists of the “LDNR”.
“There was no mention of the attack on Kyiv, the occupation of the southern part of Ukraine in the Russian information space,” Skibitsky said at a July 21 briefing.
However, now the Kremlin is “creating the ground for resolving the status of the temporarily occupied territories in the south.” This can happen through a pseudo-referendum or direct annexation of the occupied territories of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
“Let’s see how this process will turn out. Active discussions are now underway in Moscow on how to make this process more “transparent” for the world community. One of the elements is the distribution of Russian passports. Preparing they the international community for a pseudo-referendum. This is the main scenario,” said the deputy head. TEACHER
He added that in the Russian Federation it will be presented as an aid to the Russian-speaking population.
Bloomberg, citing sources on July 21, reported that the Kremlin is rushing to hold “referendums” in the occupied territories of Ukraine before September 15 to give Putin “reasons” to annex them in the Russian Federation in the same month.
According to the publication’s interlocutors, Russian officials are preparing to organize “referendums” in the occupied territories, and in any other areas that “Russian troops may capture in the coming weeks.”
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The “Referendums”, as you know, are overseen by the first deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Sergei Kiriyenko. He regularly visits the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to supervise the preparation of the “will” of the people.
With the Russian military struggling to advance in recent months, the merger would be a sign for the Kremlin that the operation is clearly moving forward for the Russians. They also wanted to show their unwillingness to discuss ceding territories in any possible future peace talks. .
In Ukraine, they repeatedly spoke about the need to conduct a successful counter-offensive before the pseudo-referendums. This week, the National Security and Defense Council reported that parity has developed on the front. The Ministry of Defense talks about the need for at least 100 HIMARS artillery missile systems. At the moment, there is a stalemate on the battlefield – Russia cannot advance, and Ukraine is not ready for a counteroffensive.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.