Nearly 10 weeks of entering the war and with his troops only produced marginal benefits in eastern Ukraine, Russia focused on strengthening military and political control over the territory that had been taken so far.Kremlin is installing the government’s government, ordered local residents to use rubles for transactions and, according to three people involved in the effort, planning an organized referendum in a hurry in several areas to open the way for full anexation. People talk to anonymous conditions because the risk of levies discuss sensitive information. Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Although far from the original goal of President Vladimir Putin to overthrow the President of Volodymyr Zelensky and put up a pro-Russian regime in most Ukraine, the latest efforts caused new obstacles to the peaceful conversation that had screams, where Kyiv had insisted on Russia surrendering in the land needed since attacking on February 24. The Zelensky military, supported by heavy weapons infusion from the US and its allies, planned the encouragement to reclaim the territory.
Kremlin officials, in public and private, are still sure that their progress will increase the speed and Russian troops will at least conquer the entire Donetsk and Luhanansk regions. Moscow also tried to tighten his grip in the South Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, the parts that had been confiscated. It will leave about one fifth from the Ukraine region and most of the beaches are under Russian control – and create a land link to Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
In recent days, Russian officials have begun discussing public expectations for the breakthrough of the Great battlefield on May 9, the day of the day of the victory of World War II and the military parade that has become a Kremlin campaign test stone to prepare public support for the invasion.
However, in a sign of his ambitions for Donetsk and Luhanansk, Kremlin has changed their responsibilities to its domestic political division from the state responsible for neighboring countries, according to people who are familiar with the situation. Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Chief of Staff who was responsible for domestic politics, visited the area late last month to describe his plans with officials there.Russian recognition of the Republic – Republic which separates at the end of February – including plots of regions that are not controlled – open the way for the invasion.
While a US official said on Monday that the vote became part of Russia could be held in Donetsk and Luhanansk in mid-May, people who were familiar with planning in Moscow said they would likely be postponed until Russian troops expand control at least to the regional administration limits. It can take weeks or months.The formal attachment of the two regions will make it part of Russia that cannot be withdrawn, in the Kremlin view, permanently divides Ukraine when other regions occupied moves to separate themselves.
Meanwhile, Moscow replaces local officials who are loyal to the government in Kyiv, changing the regional internet connection occupied through Russian servers and censorship and mandates the use of Rubel Rubeli Hryvnia Ukraine. Kyiv accused Russia of stealing 400,000 tons of seeds from the area he controlled.”We will absorb the territory of Ukraine based on the territory,” Constantin Malofeev, a rich supporter of Putin who helped fund war efforts, including by sponsoring volunteer troops, said in an interview.
He acknowledged that the scale of military assistance for Kyiv from the US and its allies “was far greater than expected.” Together with the specified Ukraine resistance, it means that the grinding war that will “protracted slowly” for at least for months to come, he said.
Sanctioned Tycoon
The US Department of Justice opened the indictment against Malofeev in April for violating the sanctions that were first submitted to him for his role in the 2014 Russia Crimea Disphere. At that time, the Ministry of Finance said he was “one of the main sources of financing for Russia that promotes separatism in the Crimea.”
While Russia since February 24 has increased its grip on Donetsk and Luhanansk from 30% to 75% from the two regions of Ukraine before 2014, according to the Defense Research Group based in London Janes, offensive is currently making a relatively small small progress a little.Russian troops are still struggling to complete the takeover of Mariupol port cities, where Ukraine resistance pockets hide in a giant steel factory after siege for brutal weeks that equate most of the cities for ruins.
Kremlin is preparing a long and grinding campaign, according to people who are close to leadership. With the US and its allies continue to increase sanctions – reaching Russian oil and gas exports that have long been considered too important to be touched – Moscow sees a few reasons for compromising. A Russian general said that at the end of April that Moscow’s destination would now take over southern and eastern Ukraine, which would cut countries from the sea and its main export routes. However, there are no senior officials who openly support that ambition.Personally, some Russian officials acknowledge the situation in the field in the occupied territory is chaotic and they have not been able to emphasize control and force order.
Kherson, where the military-sipil government led by the former mayor of the main city in the region was appointed by Russia on April 26, will take part in Luhanansk and Donetsk join Russia, Malofeev said. At the very least, Kremlin must combine the whole of Ukraine southeast, a piece of territory historically known as Novorossiya (New Russia) captured by the Russian Tsar from the Ottoman Empire which declined in the 18th century, he said.
Ambitious Goals
Without ports and export routes mainly for wheat, coal and metal, “Ukraine will lose economic independence,” Malofeev said.He increased propaganda and gave gifts. The pro-cremline channel, Tsargrad, has correspondents that fan in areas that are newly occupied including Mariupol and Kherson, and he donates one billion rubles ($ 15 million) to buy generators, medicines, minivans, and other supplies. The Russian government is also preparing to fund reconstruction, he said.
Alexander Borodai, a Russian legislator who briefly served as the Head of the People’s Republic of the Donetsk and led the “volunteer” forces founded by Malofeev who was fighting with Russian troops, said the Ukraine state had to be “dismantled and disappeared from earth.”At least for now, it is unclear that Russia is able to mobilize full control of Donetsk and Luhanansk. In the south, Odesa, Ukraine’s largest port, remains strong in the hands of Ukraine. Kharkiv, a large northeast city, also survived.
Zelensky has urged Ukraine in the occupied territory not to cooperate with Russian authorities.Even in Kherson, who fell with a little battle in March, Russian troops still do not have total authority. Russia has established a filtering camp targeting people from military age or who served in the country’s security forces, said Ukraine officials.The city has seen protests with participants who lifted the Ukraine flag. Kyiv’s loyal governor in the region, Hennadiy Laguta, in mid -April visited an area released by the Ukraine army and oversees electricity recovery, police patrols, and health services. School children in the Kherson region continue to study in Ukraine schools online.