According to Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the goals of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine will be expanded. Because Ukraine is "pumped full" of weapons from the West and poses a threat to Russia, the war is no longer limited to the Donbass.
Russia has announced an expansion of its military operations in Ukraine. The military targets are no longer "just" focused on the east of the neighboring country, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti and the broadcaster RT. The mission is no longer just about the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, but also about the Cherson and Zaporizhia regions and "a number of other areas". Initially, it remained unclear which parts of Ukraine Lavrov was referring to.
"This process continues, steadily and persistently," Lavrov said. Russia already controls the southern Kherson region and parts of the southeastern Zaporizhia region. The supply of weapons from Western countries, which have provided Kyiv with Himar rocket launchers, among other things, caused Russia to reconsider its plans, Lavrov said. Moscow's "geographical objectives" would move further away from the current front if the West continued to "gun pump" Ukraine.
"We cannot allow that part of Ukraine that (President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy will control, or whoever will replace him, to have weapons that pose a direct threat to our territory and the territory of the republics that want their independence declared," said the Russian Foreign Minister.
After failing to capture the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv at the start of its offensive, the Russian army subsequently targeted the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. In early July, Russia announced that it had gained complete control of Luhansk.
For the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the unfounded reason to want to demilitarize and denazify the country. It's not about occupying Ukrainian territory. The word "war" is still not used. Ukraine and Western countries, on the other hand, speak of a war of aggression. After Russia failed to take the capital Kyiv, it changed tactics and declared that the first phase of the special military operation was over.
