Russia changes strategy after Western arms supplies continue to enter Ukraine

MOSCOW, KOMPAS.com – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday (20/7/2022) said the continued supply of Western weapons to Ukraine changed the Kremlin’s calculations.

He explained that Russia’s military objectives in Ukraine are now no longer focused solely on the east.

“The geography is different now. This is not only about DNR and LNR, but also Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and a number of other regions,” Lavrov told state media in an interview published on Wednesday (20/7/2022).

“This process is ongoing, consistent and ongoing,” he continued, quoted by the news agency AFP.

Also read: US Sends More Rocket Systems to Ukraine After Russia Expands War Goals

DNR is the Russian designation for the Donetsk People’s Republic and LNR for the Luhansk People’s Republic. Both are pro-Moscow separatist regions located in eastern Ukraine.

Russian troops now control the Kherson region in the south and parts of the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast.

Lavrov added that while Moscow’s goal remains the same, namely denazification and demilitarization in Ukraine, its geography has now changed since talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey, in March 2022.

He said the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine, including the US-made Himars missile system, prompted Russia to review its plans.

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“Russia’s geographic objectives will be further from the current line” if the West continues to supply weapons to Ukraine, Lavrov said.

“We cannot allow the territory of Ukraine that (President Volodymyr) Zelensky will control or whoever succeeds him has weapons that will pose a direct threat to our territory, and the territory of the republics that have declared their independence,” Lavrov said.

Having failed to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of its offensive into Ukraine, Russia has focused its military offensive on Donetsk and Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.

Russia later declared complete control of Luhansk in early July, after President Vladimir Putin deployed troops to Ukraine on February 24.

Also read: The Russo-Ukrainian War Could Be Like the Korean War, Ends In A “Frozen Conflict” in a Few Months

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