In the event of encirclement and defeat of the Ukrainian military in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the President of the Russian Federation can send his troops to capture Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and possibly Odesa and Kyiv. It is reported by The Daily Mail today, April 19.
The publication writes that the Russian troops expect the fall of Mariupol in the coming weeks, in which case they will be able to move north to join forces near Izium and surround Ukrainian soldiers. If the invaders manage to defeat the participants in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO), which make up a significant part of the Ukrainian army, this will provide a huge propaganda impetus to the Kremlin and achieve one of the stated goals of the war - the "liberation" of the Donbas from Ukrainian control.
"Depending on how many troops Russia loses in the process, the victory could also prompt Putin to reposition his forces for fresh attacks against Ukrainian cities to the west - Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and possibly Odesa and Kyiv. Such a move would drag the war out for many months - possibly years - and put the survival of Ukraine as a sovereign state under threat," the analysis says.
But if Ukraine emerges victorious, it would deal a hammer blow to Russia's invasion plans and deny Putin any conceivable path to victory, as well as make Russian troops vulnerable to Ukrainian counterattacks and could lead to a retreat to the militant-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as to Crimea.
“Depending on how many troops Ukraine has left after the battle, it could also open up the possibility of attacks into those previously-occupied regions with the aim of returning them to Ukrainian control - which Zelenskyy has stated as one of his aims,” the edition points out.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Institute for the Study of War analytical center (United States) in its report wrote that the offensive of Russian troops in the east of Ukraine is unlikely to be dramatically more successful than the previous ones, but Russian forces may be able to wear down Ukrainian defenders or achieve limited gains.
On April 19, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, said that Russia was trying to intimidate Ukraine with statements about the "second phase of the special operation."
On April 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a traditional evening video address, said that Russian troops had begun the battle for the Donbas.
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