Demonstrative military and nuclear exercises in Belarus are part of Russia’s strategy to create an additional threat to Ukraine in order to force it to redeploy forces to the northern direction ahead of a planned Russian summer offensive on the main front.
This opinion was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Adviser to the Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Andrii Veselovskyi.
According to Veselovskyi, Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing a so-called major summer offensive. As part of this preparation, offensive operations are being conducted along the entire front line to identify potentially weakest points in Ukraine’s defenses, in order to redirect additional reserves there to break through the front.
“An objective has been set to break through the front in the summer in order to significantly change the situation on the battlefield by autumn, hold elections in the Russian Federation, and pressure the Ukrainian government to give up Donbas. After that, Putin could take some pause in the war. To achieve this, it is necessary to divert Ukraine’s attention and forces as much as possible from the front line. Therefore, a so-called Belarusian front is being opened,” the diplomat said.
