Just finished reading a short article from Scott Ritter with the same title as this thread, as well as an interview he did with a Russian Colonel near Donetsk (currently controlled and claimed as part of Russia). Thought some here might find what he had to say interesting. I'll quote a bit from the introduction and a bit from the conclusion of his article, as well as the interview itself below:
**
Last month I journeyed from Crimea to the so-called “New Territories” of Russia—Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Lugansk. These four former oblasts, or districts, of Ukraine had been absorbed into the Russian Federation following referenda held on the soil of each territory where the citizens were given the choice of joining Russia or remaining in Ukraine. The referenda were held from September 23-27, 2022. The results were unambiguous—by convincing majorities, the participants in the referenda voted to join Russia, and were so incorporated on September 30, 2022.
The absorption of these new territories into the Russian Federation altered the very essence of the Special Military Operation, or SMO, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had initiated back in February 2022. The SMO had already gone from being a Russian-Ukrainian conflict to one that put Russia in opposition to Ukraine and its Western allies—the so-called “collective West” (the US, NATO, and the European Union.) But even with the scope and scale of the conflict having been expanded, it was still being fought on what was either Ukrainian territory (Kherson, Zaporizhia, parts of Nikolaev, and parts of Kharkov, as well as the independent republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.) After the referenda, most of the battlefield became, from the perspective of the Russian Federation, Russian territory.
[snip]
In May 2014 Khodokovsky and many of his Alpha Group soldiers joined forces with ethnic Russians in the Donbas who objected to the illegal overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanokovich during the Maidan coup in February 2014. Khodokovsky’s Alpha Group soldiers formed the core of what became known as the Vostok Battalion, part of the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic, and later, following the absorption of the Donetsk People’s Republic into the Russian Federation at the end of September 2022, part of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
I met Colonel Khodokovsky at an undisclosed location somewhere in the vicinity of the city of Donetsk. I had been prepared to discuss military matters, including how drones had changed the nature of modern warfare. Instead, Colonel Khodokosky and I engaged in a more philosophical discussion about US-Russian relations and the prospects for peace.
What follows is that interview:
**
Full article:
A View from the Frontlines | Scott Ritter
**
Last month I journeyed from Crimea to the so-called “New Territories” of Russia—Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Lugansk. These four former oblasts, or districts, of Ukraine had been absorbed into the Russian Federation following referenda held on the soil of each territory where the citizens were given the choice of joining Russia or remaining in Ukraine. The referenda were held from September 23-27, 2022. The results were unambiguous—by convincing majorities, the participants in the referenda voted to join Russia, and were so incorporated on September 30, 2022.
The absorption of these new territories into the Russian Federation altered the very essence of the Special Military Operation, or SMO, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had initiated back in February 2022. The SMO had already gone from being a Russian-Ukrainian conflict to one that put Russia in opposition to Ukraine and its Western allies—the so-called “collective West” (the US, NATO, and the European Union.) But even with the scope and scale of the conflict having been expanded, it was still being fought on what was either Ukrainian territory (Kherson, Zaporizhia, parts of Nikolaev, and parts of Kharkov, as well as the independent republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.) After the referenda, most of the battlefield became, from the perspective of the Russian Federation, Russian territory.
[snip]
In May 2014 Khodokovsky and many of his Alpha Group soldiers joined forces with ethnic Russians in the Donbas who objected to the illegal overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanokovich during the Maidan coup in February 2014. Khodokovsky’s Alpha Group soldiers formed the core of what became known as the Vostok Battalion, part of the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic, and later, following the absorption of the Donetsk People’s Republic into the Russian Federation at the end of September 2022, part of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
I met Colonel Khodokovsky at an undisclosed location somewhere in the vicinity of the city of Donetsk. I had been prepared to discuss military matters, including how drones had changed the nature of modern warfare. Instead, Colonel Khodokosky and I engaged in a more philosophical discussion about US-Russian relations and the prospects for peace.
What follows is that interview:
Full article:
A View from the Frontlines | Scott Ritter
