Atlantic Council: As Winter Nears in Ukraine, Will Moscow Attempt Another Strategic Invasion? ... the relative calm in Ukraine may be short-lived, according to Ukrainian analysts who say that approach of winter is sharpening Russia’s strategic interest in launching a new invasion—this time to establish a badly needed overland corridor to supply food, fuel and even water to its newly annexed territory of Crimea. Russia’s combine of regular and proxy forces is poised for such an assault along the 225 miles (375 kilometers) of Ukraine’s southern coast. Russia’s interest in that advance may be signaled by continued shelling during the three-week cease-fire of Ukrainian forces defending their main stronghold along that route—the city of Mariupol, said Nikolay Vorobyov, a Ukrainian journalist covering the war in the south. Also, “small groups of guerrillas are attacking along the roads to Mariupol, trying to destroy any military vehicle that drives toward the city,” Vorobyov said in a telephone interview from Kyiv.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 19:50:00 +0000