Russia has again changed "aims of the special operation"

ROMAN PETRENKO —  FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022, 15:53  

Russia's Defence Ministry has said it will focus on "complete liberation of Ukraine’s Donbass."

Details: Defence Ministry, quoted by RIA Novosti

According to the Ministry, "The combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been significantly reduced, which allows us to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal - the liberation of Donbass.

Initially, we did not plan to storm them (blockaded Ukrainian cities - ed.) to prevent destruction and minimise losses among personnel and civilians.

Although we do not exclude such a possibility, as individual groups are carrying out the tasks assigned to them, and solving them successfully, our forces and resources will be concentrated on the main thing - the complete liberation of Donbass."

Why this is important: At first, Russian politicians and propagandists said they would take Kyiv in two days. The aggressors wanted Ukraine to make a number of concessions, including "demilitarisation and de-Nazification."

In the space of a month, while the Russian army has been suffering devastating losses, the Russian government has begun to scale down its fanciful ambitions.

Background: On March 7, the Kremlin declared that they were about to finish the "demilitarisation of Ukraine".