Russia To Concentrate On Splitting Ukraine In Partitions Than As A Whole – Intelligence

Russia, despite being seen by most as a country that could dominate in its invasion of Ukraine, may be altering its plans.

With the Kremlin’s plans of invading Ukraine not panning out, a top military intelligence from Ukraine claims that Russia appears to be focused on retaining control of occupied areas of the southern and eastern region and splitting Ukraine in two rather than taking the entire country, Forbes reported.

Should this be the case, it would be a major shift as far as plans of Russia to invade Ukraine is concerned. The country has failed to take Kyiv after almost more than a month since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

"The season of a total Ukrainian guerrilla safari will soon begin," Ukrainian defense intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov said. "Then there will be one relevant scenario left for the Russians, how to survive."

Hence, it appears the Kremlin is changing its strategy with the developments. On Friday, Russia was reportedly focusing on the "liberation" of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Russian-backed rebels have partially controlled since 2014.

However, the United States through U.S. Ambassador to the UN Julianne Smith in a report from CNN, cautioned that Western officials aren't convinced Russia has given up its goal of capturing the entirety of Ukraine after multiple rockets struck Lviv in western Ukraine on Saturday.

Since the invasion started in February, Ukraine has been holding its own against Russia. Attempts to take over Kyiv have been foiled, the same scenario with other regions such as Kharkiv.

There were also reports coming out over the weekend that Ukraine had regained control of some villages near Kharkiv and the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol in a series of counterattacks.

So far, around 15,000 soldiers have allegedly been killed although the actual count of casualties on both sides remains unclear.