The Russian-Ukrainian war. Day 7

Baku/02.03.22/Turan: The 7th day of Russia's aggression against Ukraine is underway. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, units of the Armed Forces have completely taken control of the center of the Kherson region. However, the mayor of Kherson issued a statement refuting the information of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The day before, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky addressed the members of the European Parliament via video link from Kiev. He said that Ukraine has proved that it has chosen Europe, and now Europe must choose Ukraine and support EU accession. Members of the European Parliament gave Zelensky an ovation.

On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke via video link at a UN conference in Geneva, but during the broadcast of his speech more than a hundred participants in the meeting - diplomats from about forty countries - defiantly left the hall in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Political scientist Elhan Shahinoglu commented on the events in Ukraine in the "Difficult Question" program.

According to him, the plans of Russian President Vladimir Putin turned out to be much more ambitious than one could imagine.

“I assumed that Putin has programs maximum and minimum. At a minimum, he seeks the accession of Donbass to Russia, and at the maximum - "Novorossia" (8 regions), as a result of which only its current central part with 9 regions and Kiev would remain in Ukraine. But as it turns out, he needs all of Ukraine,” Shahinoglu said.

In his opinion, Putin's desire to establish control over Ukraine is confirmed by the conditions he put forward to Ukraine on Monday, February 28, in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Putin demanded the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, Kiev’s confirmation of its neutral status and recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea. But it seems that Putin seriously miscalculated. He counted on a blitzkrieg, but contrary to his expectations, the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people are desperately resisting Russian aggression. Also, contrary to his calculations, the West rallied and adopted furious sanctions against Russia, decided to excommunicate it from SWIFT, suspend Nord Stream 2, close the airspace for Russian airlines, etc.”

Shahinoglu believes that now Putin is now facing a difficult choice. “Either continue the war, driving yourself more and more into isolation and sanctions abyss that will destroy the Russian economy. Such a prospect is also fraught with the fact that it can lead to his overthrow. Or retreat ... But this will deal a colossal blow to his image. Then they will ask him: if you were going to retreat, why did you drag the country into this war with the fraternal people?”, the political scientist is sure. ---0—