Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that Russia’s “geographical goals” in Ukraine are no longer just limited to the Donbas region, suggesting future goals of annexing other Ukrainian territory.
Speaking with the state-owned media outlets RIA and RT, Lavrov stated that “Now, the geography is different. It is not only the DNR and LNR, it is also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhzhia region and a number of other territories,” adding that “If Western countries supply long-range weapons to Ukraine, [these goals] will move even further [west].”
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This comes as White House national security spokesperson John Kirby stated that United States intelligence believes Russia is “reviewing detailed plans” to annex Russian controlled areas of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donbas through rigged referendums, however, it remains unclear when exactly this would happen.
This development really isn’t anything new in regards to what we know about Russia’s tactical objectives. Back in April, Deputy Commander of Russia’s Central Military District announced that the primary objective of Russia’s new “Phase Two” of the invasion is to secure control of Ukraine’s south while also pushing to take over the rest of Donbas. While speaking at the annual Union of Defense Industry Enterprises, General Rustam Minnekayev stated “one of the tasks of the Russian army is to establish full control over Donbas and southern Ukraine. This will provide a land corridor to Crimea, as well as affecting vital objects of the Ukrainian economy, Black Sea ports through which agricultural and metallurgical products are supplied to [other] countries,” according to Russian media. He also added that “control over the south of Ukraine is another exit into Transnistria, where there are also facts pointing to the oppression of the Russian-speaking population,” per Russian state-owned media outlet TASS.
Here are today's control-of-terrain maps for #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats. pic.twitter.com/ZdACS2R32V
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) July 19, 2022
Looking back at Minnekayev’s statement and the past few months of the conflict, the goals of securing the east and south, as well as denying Ukraine economic opportunities by blockading the Black Sea have been ongoing. Russia is continuing most of its efforts on the Donbas front while forces in the south face a large-scale Ukrainian counter offensive near Kherson.
