The UK Ministry of Defense, which monitors the war in Ukraine, said on September 18 that Russia is currently “failing on all strategic military targets.” However, he warns that, in the face of the advance of local forces, Moscow troops have extended their attacks against civilian infrastructure and are likely to further expand their range of attacks. Meanwhile, Ukrainians returning to the recaptured cities are trying to find their dead.
Russia has reacted to its military setbacks in the last week by increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure, even if they have no military impact, according to the latest intelligence report from the British Ministry of Defense released this Sunday, September 18.
London, which monitors the course of the war, indicates that Moscow’s move is intended to “destroy the morale of the Ukrainian people.”
The Kremlin hits civilian areas with greater force after the great advances of local forces, which in recent weeks have recovered more than 8,000 square kilometers of territory, especially in the northeastern province of Kharkiv.
“From the beginning, we said that this was a strategic mistake by President (Vladimir) Putin and that strategic mistakes have strategic consequences. And in this case, it is a strategic failure. Putin is failing in all his strategic military objectives. He wanted to subjugate to Ukraine, that’s not going to happen,” said Britain’s Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin.
The expert explained that Moscow failed in its attempt, at the beginning of the war, to take control of kyiv, the capital. He also tried to weaken NATO, even its extension in Eastern Europe was one of the reasons with which the Kremlin justified sending troops to its neighboring nation. However, the alliance looks stronger than before the conflict, with the accessions of Finland and Sweden.
“In the last seven days, Russia has increased its targeting of civilian infrastructure even where it probably perceives no immediate military effect,” the British Defense Ministry said. https://t.co/i64VRNk3ug
— ABC News (@ABC) September 18, 2022
However, Radakin stressed that amid Russian retaliation, the invading troops are likely to further expand their range of civilian targets and the conflict “will continue for a long time.”
Against this background, US President Joe Biden urged his Russian counterpart not to use nuclear or chemical weapons to respond to the setbacks of his soldiers on Ukrainian soil.
“Don’t. No. It would change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” Biden declared.
The leader of the White House warned that, in case of doing so, Washington’s response would be “consequent”.
Putin promises to meet his goals in Ukraine: “We are not in a hurry”
Neither the warnings nor the setbacks of his troops seem to make Putin desist from the objectives of occupying his former ally in the former Soviet Union, now close to the United States and the European Union, of which he has obtained the candidacy to become a member country. .
This weekend, in the midst of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, Indian Prime Minister Narenra Modi called on Putin for an early end to the conflict. However, the Russian leader stated that he will do “everything possible to end this as soon as possible”, while accusing kyiv of rejecting the negotiations.
However, shortly after, at a press conference, the Russian president said that “we are not in a hurry” to end his campaign. He warned that Moscow could intensify its attacks on the country’s vital infrastructure if Ukrainian forces target facilities in Russia.
In addition, the Russian head of state – who launched the war on February 24 – said that the “liberation” of the entire eastern region of Donbass in Ukraine remains his main military objective and that he does not see the need to review it.
Ukrainians returning to newly recovered Izium search for their deceased
After the recovery of towns and cities by the Ukrainian Army, hundreds of people are returning to their places of origin, including Izium, the largest city in the Kharkiv Oblast and where the authorities recently found a grave with at least 450 graves.
Authorities and citizens try to identify the victims. Dressed in white protective suits and rubber gloves, Ukrainian emergency workers dug up more bodies on Saturday, while villagers searched for dead relatives.
Causes of death have not yet been established, although some residents say dozens of those buried in the makeshift cemetery in a forest are people who were killed in a Russian airstrike.
However, witnesses cited by Reuters said multiple bodies at the scene were found with ropes around their necks and their hands tied.
kyiv accuses Moscow of having tortured and murdered dozens of people in the town. “There are clear indications of torture, humiliation and humiliation of the population. In addition, there are indications that Russian soldiers who were in the vicinity of that place fired on those graves simply for fun,” said Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky, on Saturday 17 of September.
The Czech Republic, which currently holds the pro tempore presidency of the European Union (EU), called for a “special international tribunal” to investigate the circumstances in which those found in the mass grave died.
“In the 21st century, these kinds of attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,” stressed Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.
So far, the Kremlin has not commented on the accusations against him.
With Reuters and AP
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