Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured on Wednesday that the objectives of the Russian armed forces deployed in Ukraine are no longer limited only to Donetsk and Luhansk, the two provinces that make up the Donbass mining region. Now they have changed and include other regions as well because, according to him, Russia cannot allow threats coming from the territory controlled by Kyiv.
"Now the geographical tasks of the special military operation in Ukraine have changed. Now it is not only the DPR and the LPR," he said, referring to the self-proclaimed pro-Russian Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR) People's Republics. "It is also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhia region and also a number of other territories."
In an interview granted to the Russian Ría Nóvosti agency and the RT television channel, the head of Russian diplomacy warned that "this process continues." According to him, how much that military objective will be broadened depends largely on the support Western allies give Ukraine.
"If Western countries supply long-range weapons to Ukraine, (those targets) will go further," Lavrov said.
The diplomat justified the new situation by explaining that Russia cannot allow that in the part of the territory of Ukraine, "that controls (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky or whoever replaces him", there are weapons capable of threatening the Russian territory and that of the DPR. and the RPL.
In the past month, Ukrainian troops have more frequently hit Russian positions behind the front lines, thanks largely to US-supplied Himars medium-range missile systems.
Ukraine has also received, among others, Javelin and NLAW anti-tank complexes, Stinger anti-aircraft systems or Harpoon missile systems.
Lavrov's statements also come after the pro-Russian leaders of Kherson and Zaporizhia, in the regions controlled by Moscow, have expressed their intention to hold referendums to join Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has however said that Russia has no plans to permanently occupy Ukraine's territories.
Russia sent its troops to Ukraine on February 24 in what Putin called a "special military operation" to protect the population of Donbass, "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. At first, the army advanced in the direction of Kyiv and other regions. But at the end of March the Russian troops withdrew and regrouped their efforts in the east.
At the beginning of July, Russia took the entire Luhansk province under its control. Their offensive is now expected to intensify to take over all of Donetsk territory and capture the province's key cities, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
