‘A second Afghanistan’: Doubts over Russia’s war prosecution
Al JazeeraRussia’s lack of progress in its war against Ukraine has been noted by analysts since it launched a second phase focusing on the eastern Donbas region. “Lack of unit skills and inconsistent air support have left Russia unable to fully leverage its combat mass, despite localised improvements,” said the United Kingdom’s defence intelligence on April 30. “Repeated Russian failures to capture villages such as Zolote and Vilne suggest that pre-invasion Ukrainian defensive positions are too strong for Russian troops to storm.” Russia has even failed to dislodge some 2,000 Ukrainian marines from Mariupol’s Azovstal plant, even though it formally declared victory over the city on April 21. “According to the most recent reports, we believe that Russia will try to annex the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ to Russia,” Carpenter said.