On July 27, Dmitry Medvedev Deputy chairman of
Russia’s Security Council and Former President, shared two maps in a Telegram
post, the first one showing the Ukrainian territory before the Ukraine crisis
of 2014, which includes Crimea and the two eastern regions of Donetsk and
Luhansk.
“In the mind of the president of Ukraine, this is what the map of his country’s will look like,” Medvedev wrote about the first map in his Telegram post. While the second map showed Ukraine’s territory reduced to Kyiv and a small surrounding area, with seven regions to the west annexed by Poland and three in the Southwest by Hungary and Romania. The rest of the country was fully absorbed into Russia.
The rest of the Ukrainian territory is labeled as ‘Russia,’ bordering Moldova. Dmitry Medvedev has posted maps to illustrate what he believes would be the future of Ukraine. Ukrainian Territory Under Russian Occupation. So far, Russia has been able to bring the Luhansk region under its complete control and is currently focused on capturing Donetsk, after which the entire Donbas region will come under Russian occupation, achieving the objective of liberating Donbas republics.
Apart from that, the Russian military also controls some north-eastern parts of the Kharkiv region, and parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south, as of July 27. President Putin had himself said in June that the “overall goal” of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is to liberate Donbas, protect its people and create conditions that will guarantee Russia’s security.
However, judging by the maps put out by Medvedev, it does not appear that Russia would settle just for a few provinces in the south and east of Ukraine. As stated at the beginning of Russia’s Special Military Operation, President Putin’s ultimate objective is the ‘de-Nazification’ of Ukraine. “I think Russia’s plan right now is to capture Donbas and to see what they can do next,” Oleg Ignatov, Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Russia, told Newsweek.
The two maps released by Medvedev are the latest in the series of hawkish remarks made by the Former Russian President in his Telegram posts since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Once considered a reformist by the West, Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, has adopted an increasingly belligerent tone since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Fight Back of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has begun a counter-offensive in the south to take back Kherson, which is gathering momentum, as per an Intelligence Update by the UK’s Ministry of Defense July 28. On July 19, Ukrainian forces used HIMARS Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) to strike the Antonovsky bridge, a crucial river crossing that connects Kherson and Crimea.
The bridge runs over the Dnieper River and is a key supply route for the Russian Army to supply areas it has occupied to the west of the bridge. According to the UK, Russia’s 49th Army, stationed on the west bank of the Dnieper River, appears vulnerable. Also, Kherson city, which is politically and symbolically crucial for Russia, is virtually cut off from the other occupied territories.
Kherson was the first city in Ukraine to be captured
by Russian forces after their invasion in February.
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