{"id":1718172,"date":"2022-10-31T06:30:28","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T10:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1718172"},"modified":"2022-10-31T10:34:31","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T14:34:31","slug":"is-putin-scaling-down-his-war-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-putin-scaling-down-his-war-ambitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Putin Scaling Down His War Ambitions?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fis-putin-scaling-down-his-war-ambitions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1718172&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"green\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/wp-content\/themes\/unherdv3\/thepost\/img-assets\/post_arrow.png\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Spotted<\/p>\n<p>14:30<\/p>\n<h5>Targeting Ukraine&#8217;s power infrastructure may be a tacit admission of defeat<\/h5>\n<p>by <span>Aris Roussinos<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2GettyImages-489129208-scaled-1-1024x555-1.jpeg\" class=\"featured\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Credit: Getty<\/p>\n<p><span>As the seasons change, the war in Ukraine has entered a new phase. Following a series of major reverses <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/winters-onset-will-change-russias-war-in-ukraine-11666608971\"><span>the Russians are digging in<\/span><\/a>,<span> in the hope that the autumn rains will bog down any further Ukrainian counter-offensives, perhaps allowing time to train and equip their newly-mobilised conscript army for a second push next spring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the meantime, Russia\u2019s attention has shifted towards <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2022\/10\/25\/russias-methodical-attacks-exploit-frailty-ukrainian-power-system\/\"><span>knocking out Ukraine\u2019s electrical grid from the air<\/span><\/a><span>. Over the past three weeks, waves of cruise missile and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/oct\/17\/russia-targets-ukraines-energy-grid-as-winter-approaches\"><span>Iranian <\/span><i><span>Shahed<\/span><\/i><span> drone<\/span><\/a><span> strikes <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/russia-warns-of-possible-attacks-on-satellites-used-to-help-ukraine-11666871511\"><span>have battered Ukraine\u2019s power infrastructure<\/span><\/a><span>, damaging or destroying around 40% of its power network, leading to blackouts and outages across the country, including western cities hitherto barely affected by the war. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kyivpost.com\/multimedia\/video\/watch-zelenskys-address-on-the-day-of-liberation-of-ukraine-from-fascist-invaders\"><span>In his nightly address last night<\/span><\/a><span> from a blacked-out Kyiv, standing next to a downed <\/span><i><span>Shahed<\/span><\/i><span> UAV, Zelensky asserted: \u201cWe are not afraid of the dark. The darkest times for us are not without light, but without freedom.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But if the disruption of power supplies continues into winter, it will affect civilian morale, as is no doubt intended. Urging Ukrainians to limit their electricity consumption <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kyivpost.com\/multimedia\/video\/watch-zelenskys-latest-daily-address-2\"><span>on Wednesday<\/span><\/a><span>, Zelensky stated that \u201cRussian terrorists have created such difficult conditions for our energy workers that no one in Europe has ever seen or encountered\u201d but \u201cwe need victory over Russia in the energy sphere as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The coinciding of the new bombing campaign with the appointment of the Russian Air Force general <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-europe-63217467\"><span>Sergey Surovikin<\/span><\/a><span>, who oversaw much of the brutal and successful aerial bombardment of rebel-held Syrian cities following Russia\u2019s 2015 intervention, has naturally <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/butcher-syria-sergei-surovikin-russia-vladimir-putin-kremlin-ukraine-kherson\/\"><span>led to speculation<\/span><\/a><span> that his appointment is an attempt to apply the \u201cSyrian playbook\u201d to Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Yet expert analysts urge caution: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.understandingwar.org\/backgrounder\/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-11\"><span>as the <\/span><i><span>Institute for the Study of War<\/span><\/i><span> observed<\/span><\/a><span>, all the Russian commanders overseeing the Ukraine war so far have previously commanded operations in Syria, using much the same methods. In any case:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inner-body-quote\" data-type=\"quote\">\n<div class=\"quote\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\u00a0Whoever was appointed as theatre commander would have overseen the October 10 cruise missile strikes, which Ukrainian intelligence reported had been planned as early as October 2 (and which Surovikin certainly did not plan, prepare for, and conduct on the day of his appointment).\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8211; Institute for the Study of War<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>If anything, the surprise is that Russia did not pursue this aerial campaign at the beginning of the war. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/davidhambling\/2022\/02\/02\/inventor-of-shock--awe-explains-how-it-might-work-in-ukraine\/?sh=35f095c113b7\"><span>\u201cshock and awe\u201d<\/span><\/a><span> campaign against civilian and dual-use infrastructure, like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/reports\/2003\/usa1203\/4.5.htm\"><span>American bombing of Iraq\u2019s power nodes<\/span><\/a><span> in 2003, would ordinarily precede a ground offensive. Perhaps the better analogy is with the 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, in which <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/991fa3c247c00a5b9e06a3b605cf82bd\"><span>the destruction of the electric grid<\/span><\/a><span> only began after three months of limited success striking military targets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>NATO spokesman Jamie Shea <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1999\/05\/04\/world\/crisis-balkans-overview-nato-air-attacks-power-plants-pass-threshold.html\"><span>briefed then<\/span><\/a><span> that \u201cthe fact that lights went out across 70% of the country shows that NATO has its finger on the light switch now\u2026 We can turn the power off whenever we need to and whenever we want.\u201d No doubt Putin, who <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2022\/03\/03\/putin-ukraine-russia-nato-kosovo\/\"><span>frequently cites NATO\u2019s Kosovo intervention<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-racial-injustice-serbia-kosovo-756fa71c7ab417115ee3521a95791ca7\"><span>as a precedent<\/span><\/a><span>, is aiming to send a similar message. But the takeaway lesson is surely that Russia has dialled back its war aims, even as the conflict\u2019s hardships affect a broader swathe of Ukraine\u2019s civilian population.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Back in February, Putin ordered lightly-armed troops to invade much of Ukraine, leaving the country\u2019s infrastructure intact in the seeming belief the war would end in days with a puppet government installed. In destroying Ukraine\u2019s power grid, Putin is signalling, perhaps unintentionally, acceptance that his broadest ambitions will not be realised. Ukraine\u2019s civilian infrastructure is now a target precisely because the country will not become part of Russia\u2019s sphere of influence. The escalation of the bombing is in its own way a quiet admission of defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spotted14:30 Targeting Ukraine&#8217;s power infrastructure may be a tacit admission of defeat by Aris Roussinos Credit: Getty As the seasons change, the war in Ukraine has entered a new<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1718175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1718172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1718172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1718175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1718172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1718172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1718172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}