"Break Ukraine at Any Cost": The Economist Announces the Beginning of Russia's Summer Offensive
The British magazine The Economist claims that Russia is launching a summer offensive “to break Ukraine at any cost.”
"After weeks of murky cease-fire talks at the urging of a semi-engaged President Donald Trump, the war between Russia and Ukraine is escalating again, in brutal style and with rising stakes. The past two weeks have seen record-breaking Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and spectacular Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian strategic bombers.
But all this is just a prelude to the main event: Russia's large-scale summer offensive, which is aimed at breaking the fighting spirit of Ukrainians and ensuring President Vladimir Putin a symbolic victory at almost any cost," the magazine writes.
Many Ukrainian cities and military forces are preparing for the final reckoning, the magazine adds. The publication's sources in Ukrainian intelligence believe that Konstantinovka and neighboring Pokrovsk will become the center of Russia's summer campaign.
"Konstantinivka has been on the brink of war since 2014. Now the fate of this city, which Russia considers the logistical hub of Ukrainian forces in Donbas and the gateway to the last strongholds in this region, is a foregone conclusion. Up to 25 guided bombs fall on the city every day. The remaining 8500 civilians mostly leave the city before 15 p.m., when a curfew is imposed," the article says.
It is also noted that Ukrainians have concerns about the northeastern Sumy region, where Russia has concentrated 50 troops there and is slowly advancing toward the regional center, repeating last year's cross-border operation by Ukraine in Kursk region.
“For the first time since the war began, Russia is gaining almost as much territory in the north as it did in the main theatre of war in Donbas, largely because it can easily deal with fortifications that are not designed for drone warfare,” the article says.
Ukrainian military sources still expect that after the creation of the so-called buffer zone, Russia will shift its attention to the southern fronts in Donbas and Zaporizhzhia, continuing the grueling war there, "which has turned the region into a cratered wasteland."
At the same time, the publication does not hide its skepticism regarding the expected results of the Russian offensive.
"In three years, the front line has not shifted globally in Russia's favor in any strategically important direction. However, Ukrainian sources claim that, according to captured Russian officers, the summer campaign is being positioned as a "final push" designed to break Ukraine's morale," the magazine concludes.
"Break Ukraine at any cost": The Economist announced the beginning of Russia's summer offensive.