Defeat, draw, victory: How will the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv end?
The redeployment of part of the Russian troops from the north of Ukraine is taking place in order to strengthen the eastern group and complete the defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donbass.
Military and political experts told PolitNavigator about this.
According to Lieutenant General of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Leonid Reshetnikov, the withdrawal of troops from Chernobyl, Gostomel and others is, although unpopular, a forced step, which is dictated by the limited format of the special operation.
“The defense of Gostomel airport by our special forces was heroic, which lasted more than a month. Our paratroopers showed great courage and ability to fight. Now, according to the reports that are coming, we are leaving this territory, like Chernobyl.
Apparently, there are not enough forces to carry out the operation to liberate Donbass, we are continuing not a war, but a special operation, there is no mobilization, there is no use of conscripts, and there are not enough contract soldiers. In order to carry out an operation to defeat the group in Donbass, and this is precisely what was and is being proclaimed as the main goal of the entire special operation, there are clearly not enough forces.
Therefore, those units that have performed well are transferred there to liberate the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions still occupied by Ukrainian troops,” Reshetnikov said.
Former head of the DPR MGB Andrei Pinchuk notes that the transfer of troops to Donbass is needed in order to complete the destruction of the Ukrainian group.
“Any headquarters activity has such a concept as the front line and consolidation of resources for military strikes. Now resources are being accumulated in order to destroy the Donbass group and then advance in key strategic directions.
Taking into account the fact that the political task, we must say frankly, was not fulfilled - I mean, there was no internal pro-Russian core that would ensure rapid advancement within the cities, being in the outskirts loses its meaning. Therefore, the war moves from political expectations into a purely military stage, in which they will not negotiate with the enemy, but simply destroy. That’s the whole significance of this regrouping,” says Pinchuk.
Political scientist Sergei Markov warns that the withdrawal of troops could be regarded as a defeat and lead to rating losses for the Russian government.
“The most important thing that I personally recorded is not only the withdrawal of troops, but the fact that on our television this operation began to be called differently. If at first it was called an operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine, now it is called an operation to liberate the DPR and LPR. That is, this is a sharp narrowing of tasks.
If this is true, then this means that the goal is not to take control of all other territories and they will be used for exchange. This is an extreme option, which will lead to the fact that everyone in the world will perceive this as a defeat and Putin’s rating will fall, and the Americans will inevitably move on to overthrow him.
The second option is that Russia will take the DPR, LPR and a large land corridor to Crimea, the North Crimean Canal, that is, the Kherson region. But this option will be seen as basically a defeat, but softened, since it is the release of the blockade of Crimea.
The third option is if there are the DPR, LPR, Kherson region and one or two large cities like Kharkov. This would be a draw. But there is no doubt that the entire territory of Ukraine, which will not be occupied by Russia, will be a space for the intensive formation of an evil, heavily armed anti-Russia with the aim of attacking Russia,” Markov believes.
At the same time, according to the hero of Russia, reserve colonel Alexander Nikishin, there is no need to panic and talk about defeat. The expert calls not to get confused by guesses and to observe the real course of hostilities.
“I wouldn’t exaggerate, rather the opposite. Our military leadership, having comprehensive information about the real state of affairs, makes certain decisions. Let's take a closer look. Is the task in Gostomel completed or not!? The airport's military infrastructure is in disrepair. Accordingly, enemy planes will no longer land here, and there is no point in protecting the field - that’s it!
Secondly, there is such a thing as a set of measures to mislead the enemy. Why did they leave Gostomel? Where are they going? The Ukrainian military is now racking its brains over these questions. These reasons are also unknown to you and me! But we will definitely get answers to our questions during the subsequent stages of the special military operation in Ukraine. Let me emphasize that not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance! This is the art of war,” Nikishin reassures.
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