There is a great chess match going on in eastern Europe. Putin is taking the opportunity of a lifetime to gain control of the Crimea peninsula from Kakhovka to Berdiansk. This extension to his Crimea acquisition will give Russia access to the Black Sea and a land route from Russia for supplies. He desperately needs the sub and warship bases on the Crimea area so he can be guaranteed access year-round to ports. But the bases have to be able to be reached by land for supply line support.
The graphic below from Geopolitical Futures is a good idea of the landmass he is looking to obtain.
Reuters published today:
The latest Ukrainian intelligence report compiled on Wednesday shows no evidence of Russia pulling back its forces from near Ukraine’s borders, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters in an interview.
Ukraine will only believe Russia is serious about defusing the current crisis if it withdraws its troops, military hardware and weapons, including forces deployed in Belarus for drills that are due to end on Feb. 20, he said.
According to the Ukrainian military, about 140,000 combined Russian military and pro-Russian separatist forces are currently massed near Ukraine, including 125,000 ground troops. There are 9,000 Russian troops in Belarus alone, he said.
By way of comparison, Reznikov said Ukraine has around 35,000 troops in its eastern Donbass region, where Kyiv has been battling a Russian-backed separatist insurgency since 2014.
So you cannot blame Putin for taking advantage of the United States’ total loss of political presence on the world stage. You can also put money on it that China is watching closely to see if the world will allow Taiwan to be taken over this year.
