Despite heavy losses: According to insiders, Russia is planning a second attack on Kyiv

2022-05-30T15:21:03.683Z

Despite heavy losses: According to insiders, Russia is planning a second attack on Kyiv Created: 05/30/2022, 17:08 By: Tobias Utz The Kremlin hopes for a "comprehensive victory" later this year. Heavy losses hardly spoil the good mood. Kyiv/Moscow - Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February, Vladimir Putin massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops on the border with Ukraine

Despite heavy losses: According to insiders, Russia is planning a second attack on Kyiv

Created: 05/30/2022, 17:08

By: Tobias Utz

The Kremlin hopes for a "comprehensive victory" later this year.

Heavy losses hardly spoil the good mood.

Kyiv/Moscow - Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February, Vladimir Putin massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops on the border with Ukraine.

Since then, the military has lamented heavy casualties while the Kremlin tries to keep up the propaganda.

Both the Ukrainian general staff and the British secret service speak of more than 30,000 fallen soldiers from the Russian army.

The losses were "devastating," according to the British Defense Ministry's report on the Ukraine war on Monday (May 30).

Ukraine-News: Despite heavy losses - hope for victory in the Kremlin

And yet:

Russia has made significant progress in recent days, especially in the Donbass.

According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the "liberation" of eastern Ukraine remains "unconditional priority".

According to international observers, one of the Donbass regions, the Luhansk Oblast, is already 95 percent under Russian control.

According to a report by the Russian news portal Meduza, which is now reporting from exile in Riga, the conquest of the Donbass is the minimum goal of the Russian invasion.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin in August 2021 in St. Petersburg.

(Archive photo) © Alexei Nikolsky / Imago Images

Accordingly, despite numerous setbacks in the Kremlin, there should still be hope "that a comprehensive victory in Ukraine is possible before the end of the year".

At least that's what three anonymous sources close to the Kremlin told the news portal.

A second major attack on the capital Kyiv should therefore be considered.

The first attempt failed due to the enormous resistance of the Ukrainian army.

However, the hopes in the Kremlin are contrasted with the facts of the losses.

For example, the British Ministry of Defense report stated that numerous brigade and battalion commanders had already fallen.

Equipment and training are cited as deficiencies.

There are also isolated mutinies.

As early as March, reports of the poor morale of the Russian soldiers multiplied.

At the beginning of May, soldiers are said to have sabotaged their tanks.

The discipline and endurance of the armed forces does not necessarily speak for a "war of attrition", which according to the Meduza report is the Kremlin's aim.

(do)