Text/North Wind
"Putin has never lost a war, he will win in Ukraine", "In the last 20 years in office, Putin has never lost a war." ”
As Russia and the West engage in a battle of will and power over Ukraine's fate, the U.S. media released an article titled "Putin has never lost a war, he will win in Ukraine," saying that there is a key fact to remember: Vladimir Putin has never lost a war in the past 20 years in power. In the conflicts in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Crimea, Putin has succeeded in enabling his armed forces to achieve clear and achievable military objectives that will allow him to credibly declare victory in the eyes of the Russian people and the vigilant and observing world. So his latest move in Ukraine is unlikely to be any different.
Although Russia has been engaged in a military buildup on the Ukrainian border for months, and the Biden administration has repeatedly warned that an invasion could happen at any time, the bombing campaign before dawn on Feb. 24 sparked Europe's first land war in decades, which seems to surprise many Ukrainians. In the main city of the country the size of Texas, people overwhelmed by actor-turned-president Zelenskiy's repeated pledges that Russia would not invade watched and listened to the bombardment of Ukrainian military bases, airfields and command and control centers.
Within 24 hours, the conflict spread rapidly, with Russian tanks and troops advancing rapidly toward the capital Kiev; fierce fighting in the second-largest city, Kharkov; and fighting around Chernobyl, where a disastrous nuclear reactor melted down in 1986. This kind of shock is in the Style of Russia.
Putin's military campaign against Ukraine instantly destroyed Europe's post-Cold War security order, because, to Russia's infuriation, the European security order centers on the often expanding NATO alliance. Analysts expect that once Kiev falls, military aggression will give way to a political solution that establishes a pro-Russian government. If these negotiations come to fruition, Putin will be able to withdraw his troops and end the conflict while giving the West a humiliating blow.
Military and Russian experts believe that this may be the real problem. Putin's actions would also send a stern warning to some countries in the former Soviet Union of the possible consequences of getting too close to the West. In response, Fyodor Lukoyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, a Moscow foreign policy magazine, said that because the current situation in Eastern Europe during the Soviet era was "never accepted by Putin", which made him bitter, he believed that Russia was treated as a second-class citizen after the collapse of the Soviet Union. ”
Now, Western diplomats and intelligence officials see Putin as trying to "behead" Zelenskiy's pro-Western Kiev leadership and replace it with a government loyal to Russia. Intelligence analysts and officials have also said that Putin does not want and does not need to occupy entire countries to achieve his larger goals, and that Putin wants to rewrite the rules of security between him and NATO.
At the moment, Putin now receives the world's collective attention, just like every secretary-general in the Soviet era. After the military operation began, Putin made a chilling televised speech in which he said: "Anyone who tries to intervene (in Ukraine) should know that Russia will react immediately and will lead to consequences that you have never experienced in your history." Putin's subsequent announcement that he was putting Russia's nuclear forces on alert highlighted the threat.
Russia is now back in the spotlight, as Ross Gautmore, a former NATO deputy secretary-general who has long followed Russia, recently said on CBS's podcast Intelligence Question, "This is [Putin's] moment of 'looking at me.'" ”
At the moment, the country is demonstrating by demonstrating its military prowess that it is still a great power. This is exactly where Putin wants his country to be. Putin believes that Russia should be respected by the rest of the world at all times, and Fyodor Lukoyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, goes a step further, saying, "When it [Russia] is not respected, it should be feared." ”