Russia’s military objectives in Ukraine have now expanded beyond the Donbas region in the eastern part of the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state media on Wednesday.
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The Russian military invaded Ukraine in late February and initially expected to topple the government and take over the capital in days. But ultimately, Russia withdrew troops from the surrounding areas in early April, instead choosing to prioritize the Donbas region, which is mainly the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
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“Now, [our] geography is different. It is not only the [Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics], it is also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhzhia region, and a number of other territories,” Lavrov said in an interview with the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, referencing the two breakaway regions by the names the pro-Russian separatists in the region promote.
In the time since choosing to refocus on the Donbas, Russia has taken Luhansk but remains far from capturing Donestk, though its military has taken additional territory, mainly in the south, including in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas.
Lavrov also said that the impetus behind expanding their objectives was the West’s continued military support for the Ukrainian resistance.
Russia cannot accept that “in the parts of Ukraine that [President Volodymyr] Zelensky or the one who will replace him will control, there are weapons that will pose a direct threat to our territory and the territory of those [eastern Ukrainian] republics that have announced their independence,” the minister explained, threatening that their goals could continue to grow if the military aid starts including long-range weapons.
“If Western countries supply long-range weapons to Ukraine, [these goals] will move even further,” Lavrov said.
A day earlier, the White House warned that Russia is looking to annex parts of Ukraine.
Specifically, the Russians will look to annex the city of Kherson and all of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said during a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
“Russia is laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. You’re seeing ample evidence in the intelligence and in the public domain that Russia intends to try to annex additional Ukrainian territory. Russia is beginning to roll out a version of what you could call an annexation playbook,” he said. “Very similar to the one we saw in 2014.”
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The Kremlin has not decided when these referenda will occur, but proxies in the areas have said that it will happen sometime this year, the former Pentagon spokesman noted.
On the day of Lavrov’s comments, Western defense leaders met virtually for the monthly Defense Contact Group to discuss the war. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. would be announcing a new military aid package that includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, ahead of the meeting.
The package will raise the total number of Lockheed Martin-produced HIMARS provided to Ukraine to 16, though Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said on Tuesday his country needs at least 55 to “hold back the enemy” effectively or “at least 100” to launch an “effective counterattack.”
