“Experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicate that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has said he would launch a full-scale war against Ukraine before February 2022, but did not say when.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: ISW
Literally ISW: “Putin repeated his claim that he should have broken the ceasefire he imposed on Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 by launching a full-scale invasion even before February 2022.”
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Details: Analysts point out that in an interview with Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin on December 22, Putin reiterated that Russia should have launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine before February 2022, but added that it was impossible to say exactly when that would happen.
Putin accused Ukraine and the West of allegedly “misleading Russia” and not fulfilling the Minsk agreements, which, he said, gave the West time to prepare Ukraine for future “military actions” against Russia. Putin said that Russia should have “prepared for this” and “chosen the right moment” to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, rather than “wait for the moment when nothing can be done.”
Literally ISW: “Putin failed to mention that Ukraine has been working to strengthen its military as a defensive response to Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory in 2014 and the start of the war in the east of the country.”
Details: The report recalls that Putin made similar statements during his Dec. 19 televised “Direct Line” news conference, where he said he would have decided on a full-scale invasion sooner if he could do it over again.
On December 19, Putin also said that Ukraine was not abiding by the Minsk agreements and that Russia “spontaneously” invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Literally ISW: “Minsk II agreements were extremely favorable to Russia, without imposing any obligations on Moscow, which participated in the negotiations as a supposedly neutral mediator.
The agreements established a “ceasefire regime” that Russian puppets constantly violated with the support of Russia.
ISW key findings for 22 December:
- Putin repeated his latest statement that he should have broken the ceasefire he imposed on Ukraine in 2014 and 2015, launching a full-scale invasion even before February 2022.
- As reported, Ukrainian forces struck an oil depot in the Oryol region with the help of drones on the night of December 21-22.
- Russian troops recently executed even more Ukrainian prisoners of war on the battlefield.
- Ukrainian troops regained their lost positions in the west of the Zaporizhzhia region, and Russian troops advanced near Kupyansk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk and in the Kursk region.
- North Korea may have transferred at least four additional ballistic missiles to Russia.