Dahlhaug has also been a civilian observer for the OSCE in Donbas. The fact that Russian forces had to withdraw last week means that Kherson is just another step backwards, he suggests. – What has surprised me the most is that the Russian strategy has been, seen with my eyes, bad. “Terror bombing of civilians” The cities of Dnipro, Odesa and Kyiv were attacked in the early hours of Thursday. Among other things, the targets should have been power plants, industry and gas storage. Photo: “INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR AND AEI’S CRITICAL THREATS PROJECT / news (Updated 18.11.2022) Photo: “INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR AND AEI’S CRITICAL THREATS PROJECT / news (Updated 18.11.2022) Last night President Zelenskyj could tell that the recent attacks from Russian missiles had left 10 million Ukrainians without electricity. Today, Russia confirms the bombing of power supply facilities. Former Lieutenant General Dahlhaug believes this is symptomatic of the Russian strategy. – Terrorist bombings of civilians are taking place, at the same time that Russian forces have had a major decline on the ground, he says. The dramatic video shows an explosion in a busy industrial area in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The video should be from November 17. Dahlhaug believes that the reason for the Russian decline is clear. He explains that this is about a mismatch between what Russia has tried to achieve and what they have had in terms of forces at their disposal. According to Dahlhaug, this strategy has resulted in poor results. This, among other things, through the fact that Putin has imposed military missions that they have not actually been able to achieve. – Russia has actually not achieved any of the objectives they had when the war started, he believes. Defense rather than offensive The Russian forces, which have withdrawn from Kherson, are to be moved north-east towards the Donbas region. Dahlhaug believes that moving the forces towards the north-east is about adapting efforts where there is a need for this. Among other things, it will be about the river Dnieper at Kherson acting as such a large water barrier that the need to defend the east side of the river is not as strong at present. – Defense positions are being built and it looks like they are thinking of wintering in the positions they have right now, says former lieutenant general Dahlhaug about the Russian forces’ wider strategy. Photo: news However, Dahlhaug does not believe that the Russians will be able to gain greater power in the north-east will mean that Russian forces will mobilize against immediate offensive operations. – I think the purpose is to strengthen the defense works that have been built, and to get recently mobilized personnel to be put into departments where there are some heavy losses, he explains. – As of now, it also seems that Russia has no ability to go on the offensive, he adds. He believes the focus will again be on the Donbas region. This was also the case this summer. – At the same time, I think that Ukraine has ambitions to perhaps eventually start offensive operations in Zaporizhzhya, down towards Melitopol and all the way down towards Lake Azov. Perhaps in the direction of Berdjansk or Mariupol. Lieutenant Colonel and head of the section for land forces at the War College, Palle Ydstebø, agrees with Dahlhaug. – Ukraine currently has the strategic initiative and can probably set the conditions for how the war will be carried on through the winter, says Ydstebø. – Does the fact that the Russians take a defensive position mean that the Ukrainians can take back even more territory during the winter? – It wouldn’t surprise me. If the Ukrainians have forces that handle the winter better than the Russians, are able to keep up with their equipment and the Russians are as poorly equipped as one gets the impression, then the Ukrainians can use the winter as a weapon, he replies. Palle Ydstebø agrees with Dahlhaug’s observations. He says that Russia has scaled back its ambitions from gaining political control in Ukraine to occupying Luhansk and Donetsk, and further holding on to what it has already occupied. Photo: Gunhild Hjermundrud / news
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Former lieutenant general believes Russian losses are under-communicated – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
