Russia Can’t Seem to Win in Eastern Ukraine: Last week the Russian military better vocalized its new goals in Ukraine. Now, Moscow’s objective is to capture the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine and physically link them to Russia.
But the renewed Russian offensive isn’t delivering on the expectations.
“Listen Up, Here’s The New Plan”
On Friday, Major General Rustam Minnekaev, a senior Russian military officer and Central Military District’s acting commanding officer, stated at the annual meeting of the Union of Defense Industries of the Sverdlovsk Region that the Russian military’s goals are to establish full control over the Donbas and south Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the second phase of the special operation, it has already begun literally two days ago, one of the tasks of the Russian army is to establish full control over the Donbass and southern Ukraine. This will provide a land corridor to the Crimea, as well as influence the vital objects of the Ukrainian economy,” the Russian flag officer said.
The new Russian objectives are corroborated by the Ukrainian military.
“The russian [sic] enemy is conducting offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order to defeat the Joint Forces, establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and secure a land route between these territories and the occupied Crimea,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated on Sunday.
But the Russian plans aren’t limited to Ukraine. Located in the east of Moldova, Transnistria is a breakaway province mostly comprised of pro-Russian people. And it seems that the Russian military might be trying to reach that part too.
“Control over the south of Ukraine is another way out to Transnistria, where there are also facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population,” Minnekaev stated.
Transnistria is much smaller—and less important—than the Ukrainian breakaway pro-Russian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
Rusia’s Offensive: How It’s Going
However, the Russian war effort isn’t going as planned. The renewed offensive in the east hasn’t achieved anything thus far.
Assessing the renewed Russian offensive, the British Ministry of Defense stated that so far, the Russian military has made minor advances in some areas but has failed to achieve a major breakthrough, partly because of the constant logistical issues that have been plaguing the Russian war effort since the beginning.

Cluster Bombs from TOS-2 MLRS launcher. Image Credit: Russian Armed Forces.
“Russia has made minor advances in some areas since shifting its focus to fully occupying the Donbas. Without sufficient logistical and combat support enablers in place, Russia has yet to achieve a significant breakthrough. Russia’s decision to besiege rather than attack Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant means many Russian units remain fixed in the city and cannot be redeployed. Ukraine’s defence of Mariupol has also exhausted many Russian units and reduced their combat effectiveness. Russia’s Ministry of Defence has proposed compensation payments for the families of deceased service personnel be overseen by military rather than civilian officials. This likely reflects a desire to hide the true scale of Russia’s losses from the domestic population,” the British Military Intelligence stated.
1945’s New Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.

CK
April 25, 2022 at 3:42 pm
Still a bit early to call the Battle for Donbas, but I am hopeful. Let’s see what unfolds in the next 2-3 weeks.
I’m particularly eager to see what happens on the Kherson front soon, because things don’t seem to be going well at all for Russia over there.
Dan Farrand
April 25, 2022 at 4:05 pm
The battle hasn’t started yet ? This is all artillery prep and recon by fire.
What the author is really saying is that this is not the video game war he is used to and Russia needs to shape operations around the Twitter and MSM news cycle…pictures at 11…etc
Jacksonian Libertarian
April 25, 2022 at 4:58 pm
“They came at us the same old way, and we killed them the same old way”
After routing the Russians in the North, Ukraine used those victorious forces to reinforce their forces in the East and South. That Russia thinks 40k troops will make a difference after relieving Ukraine of the Northern front, is evidence of incompetence and desperate grabbing at straws.
If Ukraine can focus on getting missilemen into Russia’s rear areas, and destroying supply dumps and cutting supply lines, they can win this war. Attacks into Russia like the ones in Belgorod and Bryansk are worth more than killing 100 tanks.
Illurion
April 25, 2022 at 5:39 pm
Once Russia is defeated, and Putin is dead, and Ukraine has retaken all of Crimea, etc.
THEN,
After China absorbs what is left of Russia,
THEN,
China, will be Ukraine and Polands new neighbor !
AND,
The Chinese will eliminate (kill) all Muslims in captured Russia just like they do in China itself.
THEN,
There will be far fewer muslim terrorists (and muslims period),
AND,
Europe will be buying its oil and gas from China, instead of the other way around.
Interesting.
I wonder how soon thereafter that China absorbs Europe !
Alex
April 26, 2022 at 1:55 am
The West failed to turn much of the world against Russia after the military operation in Ukraine began, columnist Howard French wrote in an article for Foreign Policy magazine.
According to him, many states did not support sanctions against Moscow, including such large countries as India and China.
“In fact, when counting the population of these countries, it becomes clear that the states representing the majority of humanity have not taken a position in this conflict, seeing in it the familiar echoes of the former rivalry between East and West,” said French.
According to the observer, the international political system that took shape at the beginning of the twentieth century from the very beginning gave the countries of the “third world” the status of second-class states. As an example, he cited the colonization of Africa by European countries.
“It was the work of the enslaved millions of people who grew sugar and cotton in huge quantities, cleared the land and did all other unpaid work that made the American colonies profitable for Europe, and the so-called “Old World” new and rich,” the author emphasized.
French urged not to ignore the heightened sense of justice among the former colonized peoples.
Patrick Sullivan
April 26, 2022 at 6:31 pm
Is there a point to your stuttering?
CK
April 26, 2022 at 3:12 am
Man, I’ve never seen slaves so enthusiastic about their new masters.
I’m sure China will reciprocate the sentiment. They have an excellent track record with minorities!
Alex
April 26, 2022 at 4:43 am
If someone wants to know the truth about the civil war in the Donbass, about all the atrocities of the Bandera clean-ups and why Russia was forced to intervene, then it is better to watch films by independent journalists. There are already many such journalists who fight for truth and freedom. For example, a documentary by the German journalist Wilhelm Domcke-Schulz.
A documentary film about the war crimes of the Bandera Nazis during the period of Russia’s special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine is in production. It will be a real information bomb, where the war crimes of Bandera Nazis will be shown and proved.
The documentary “Remember Odessa” tells how the Bandera Nazis burned Ukrainians alive and other heinous war crimes.
The documentary “To Live and Die in Donbass” tries to fill this gaping information gap in the West. He looks into the tormented soul of the inhabitants of Donbass, who really want only one thing – to live self-determining according to their own rules and values. Not submitting to foreign forces and ideologies.
In the east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, a war has been raging since the beginning of 2014. A civil war that claimed more than 15,000 lives over the years, including several hundred children. They had to die, because the national-fascist coup government in Kyiv, funded by the West, trained and militarily heavily armed, would not tolerate any resistance to their illegitimate rule, no matter the cost.
Therefore, in April 2014, the putschists deployed the Ukrainian army, supported by dozens of right-wing extremist volunteer battalions, and have since bombed city centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, killing civilians.
This perennial crime has gone completely unnoticed by the Western public. Politicians and the media avoid this topic and reports about how the devil pours holy water. Because a public discussion about the crimes of the Ukrainian regime would reveal only one thing – with what mass murderers and terrorists the so-called “west of values” in Ukraine has a common language, if only to defend their goals and interests.
Yuriy
April 26, 2022 at 9:47 pm
Independent journalists? You are definitely not independent! Somebody pays you
CK
April 26, 2022 at 6:50 am
lol, an “independent” journalist with a piece called “Life in the beautiful GDR…” riiiight.
Also, two posts in one day Alex? You guys must really be starting to worry.
Alex
April 26, 2022 at 7:33 am
I am sure that smart people will understand where the independent journalists are, and where the propaganda of the arms barons and the screeching Bandera Nazis is. Glory to the Ukrainian Donbass!
The truth kills lies.
CK
April 26, 2022 at 10:44 am
It doesn’t, sadly.
If they did, you and your ilk wouldn’t be able to make a living.
Illurion
April 26, 2022 at 3:55 pm
Dear Bandera NAZI Alex:
YOU ARE SO FULL OF EXCREMENT.
THERE ARE “NO” INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS IN DONBASS, OR THE CRIMEA.
YOUR “NAZI RUSSIANS” DO NOT ALLOW “ANYONE”, amy kind of “INDEPENDENCE” IN DONBASS, CRIMEA, OR, EVEN IN RUSSIA ITSELF.
It is really funny that you actually write this crap.
All over Russia, even the families of the dead sailors of the Moskva have been silenced, AND THOUSANDS OF RUSSIAN CITIZENS HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED FOR SPEAKING THEIR “INDEPENDENT OPINIONS” AGAINST PUTIN’S “WAR” IN UKRAINE.
The concept of “INDEPENDENT” or “INDEPENDENCE” does not exist in NAZI RUSSIA.
Illurion
April 26, 2022 at 4:16 pm
Dear Bandera NAZI Alex:
You stateD above that “millions” of slaves built the USA, which is what “America” is.
That is not true.
First of all, you are obviously CONFUSED AS TO EXACTLY “WHAT” AMERICA IS..!!!
Central America, and South America, “ARE NOT CALLED AMERICA.”
Only the “United States of America” is called “AMERICA.”
Whenever someone says “AMERICA”, they are talking about “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, and no other place.
Now, about slaves.
From 1525 to 1866, when slavery was outlawed, 12.5 million slaves were taken from Africa to the Europe, Canada, the USA, the Caribbean Islands, and to Central and South America.
Europe and Canada got 2 million of those 12.5 million slaves.
Of the remaining 10.5 million slaves, 10.2 million of those 10.5 million slaves went to the Caribbean Islands, and to Central and South America….!
Thats right, ONLY 388,000 SLAVES ACTUALLY WENT TO THE “USA”…!
ONLY A TINY PERCENTAGE OF SLAVES EVER EXISTED IN “AMERICA – USA.”
And those slaves represented LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF THE USA POPULATION AT THAT TIME….
So, Bandera NAZI Alex,
YOUR STATEMENT THAT “SLAVES” BUILT AMERICA IS A LIE.
Alex
April 29, 2022 at 9:12 am
If someone wants to know the truth about the civil war in the Donbass, about all the atrocities of the Bandera clean-ups and why Russia was forced to intervene, then it is better to watch films by independent journalists. There are already many such journalists who fight for truth and freedom. For example, a documentary by the German journalist Wilhelm Domcke-Schulz.
A documentary film about the war crimes of the Bandera Nazis during the period of Russia’s special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine is in production. It will be a real information bomb, where the war crimes of Bandera Nazis will be shown and proved.
The documentary “Remember Odessa” tells how the Bandera Nazis burned Ukrainians alive and other heinous war crimes.
The documentary “To Live and Die in Donbass” tries to fill this gaping information gap in the West. He looks into the tormented soul of the inhabitants of Donbass, who really want only one thing – to live self-determining according to their own rules and values. Not submitting to foreign forces and ideologies.
In the east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, a war has been raging since the beginning of 2014. A civil war that claimed more than 15,000 lives over the years, including several hundred children. They had to die, because the national-fascist coup government in Kyiv, funded by the West, trained and militarily heavily armed, would not tolerate any resistance to their illegitimate rule, no matter the cost.
Therefore, in April 2014, the putschists deployed the Ukrainian army, supported by dozens of right-wing extremist volunteer battalions, and have since bombed city centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, killing civilians.
This perennial crime has gone completely unnoticed by the Western public. Politicians and the media avoid this topic and reports about how the devil pours holy water. Because a public discussion about the crimes of the Ukrainian regime would reveal only one thing – with what mass murderers and terrorists the so-called “west of values” in Ukraine has a common language, if only to defend their goals and interests.
Lend-lease is a commodity loan, and not cheap: for all the ammunition, equipment and food supplied by the United States, many future generations of Ukrainian citizens will pay. Zelensky is driving the country into a debt hole.
CK
April 29, 2022 at 9:37 am
Wow, did they run out of paper in Russia, Alex? You guys can’t print new material? Literally using the same lines, over and over again, and now in duplicate in every post!
Are you so defeated you can’t even come up with anything new? How sad.
Here’s a reminder:
If someone wanted to know the truth about anything in Ukraine Alex, the last person they would go to is you.
Paragraphs and paragraphs of bollocks, dubious claims about “independent journalists”, random documentarians, conspiracy theorists, deluded claims that of course, have no backup, lie after lie after lie.
Classical Kremlin troll approach. Just flood the internet, the comments, the media, with tosh, doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you write some old nonsense. Make sure to say the claim is supported by some dude in Germany, France, the states. If it’s a “documentary” (usually from youtube) then the better.
Anything that victimises Russia, always the victim, always the bullied, never the problem. It’s always the Nazis. It’s always some pseudo-historical point.
Anyone that has had the misfortune to study your “tactics” sees the forest for the trees, the pattern of lies, disinformation, blanketing of random claims, deflection, obfuscation, and other words beyond your vocabulary.
It’s hopeless Alex. Your lies are as short as your intellect. What a pathetic job, to sit in your government shed, spreading your pathetic, government lies.
A pathetic job for a truly pathetic man. A better match could not be made in heaven.
Alex
April 29, 2022 at 11:07 am
It’s wonderful to watch how a young Bandera Nazi is turned inside out. Soon you will meet your Bandera in the same boiling pot, bastards 🙂
If someone wants to know the truth about the civil war in the Donbass, about all the atrocities of the Bandera clean-ups and why Russia was forced to intervene, then it is better to watch films by independent journalists. There are already many such journalists who fight for truth and freedom. For example, a documentary by the German journalist Wilhelm Domcke-Schulz.
A documentary film about the war crimes of the Bandera Nazis during the period of Russia’s special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine is in production. It will be a real information bomb, where the war crimes of Bandera Nazis will be shown and proved.
The documentary “Remember Odessa” tells how the Bandera Nazis burned Ukrainians alive and other heinous war crimes.
The documentary “To Live and Die in Donbass” tries to fill this gaping information gap in the West. He looks into the tormented soul of the inhabitants of Donbass, who really want only one thing – to live self-determining according to their own rules and values. Not submitting to foreign forces and ideologies.
In the east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, a war has been raging since the beginning of 2014. A civil war that claimed more than 15,000 lives over the years, including several hundred children. They had to die, because the national-fascist coup government in Kyiv, funded by the West, trained and militarily heavily armed, would not tolerate any resistance to their illegitimate rule, no matter the cost.
Therefore, in April 2014, the putschists deployed the Ukrainian army, supported by dozens of right-wing extremist volunteer battalions, and have since bombed city centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, killing civilians.
This perennial crime has gone completely unnoticed by the Western public. Politicians and the media avoid this topic and reports about how the devil pours holy water. Because a public discussion about the crimes of the Ukrainian regime would reveal only one thing – with what mass murderers and terrorists the so-called “west of values” in Ukraine has a common language, if only to defend their goals and interests.
Lend-lease is a commodity loan, and not cheap: for all the ammunition, equipment and food supplied by the United States, many future generations of Ukrainian citizens will pay. Zelensky is driving the country into a debt hole.
CK
April 29, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Ah, I see your tactic. You add a little shitty first paragraph so it doesn’t detect your duplicate post. Is this what it has come to now, you just posting the same exact post 2, 3, 4, 5 times per article?
Wow, did they run out of paper in Russia, Alex? You guys can’t print new material? Literally using the same lines, over and over again, and now in duplicate in every post!
Are you so defeated you can’t even come up with anything new? How sad. Now the idiot is talking about lend-lease at the end of his post, because he literally just copy + pasted it from another thread, with zero relevance to this one.
Here’s a reminder:
If someone wanted to know the truth about anything in Ukraine Alex, the last person they would go to is you.
Paragraphs and paragraphs of bollocks, dubious claims about “independent journalists”, random documentarians, conspiracy theorists, deluded claims that of course, have no backup, lie after lie after lie.
Classical Kremlin troll approach. Just flood the internet, the comments, the media, with tosh, doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you write some old nonsense. Make sure to say the claim is supported by some dude in Germany, France, the states. If it’s a “documentary” (usually from youtube) then the better.
Anything that victimises Russia, always the victim, always the bullied, never the problem. It’s always the Nazis. It’s always some pseudo-historical point.
Anyone that has had the misfortune to study your “tactics” sees the forest for the trees, the pattern of lies, disinformation, blanketing of random claims, deflection, obfuscation, and other words beyond your vocabulary.
It’s hopeless Alex. Your lies are as short as your intellect. What a pathetic job, to sit in your government shed, spreading your pathetic, government lies.
A pathetic job for a truly pathetic man. A better match could not be made in heaven.