LONDON -There is no evidence to suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s overall intent in Ukraine has altered despite the invasion failing to reach its original objectives, a Western official said on Friday.
“I’ve seen nothing which suggests that the original intent of Putin has significantly altered,” the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Therefore … the difference between what was planned, what is being executed is at the moment one of timing, and they have failed to achieve their objectives in the time that they set out in their original objectives and their original plan.
“I’ve seen no evidence yet that the overall intent has changed.”
More than three weeks after launching its invasion, in what Moscow calls a “special operation”, the Russian advance has stalled and failed to capture a single big city.
The Western official said Russian forces could sustain bombardments on Ukrainian cities by increasingly using unguided missiles as they moved towards a strategy of attrition.
“Their ability to use that sort of scale of artillery, whilst not infinite, is really, really significant,” the official said.
“There is an enormous amount of artillery ammunition which the Russian forces hold, and it may be a logistical challenge for them to get all of it in place.
“But if they’re able to bring those supplies forward, then they could mount that sort of artillery bombardment for a very, very considerable period of time.”
Asked whether Ramzan Kadyrov, a Putin ally and the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, was in Ukraine as he had said on his Telegram social media channel, the official said it was assessed that he was still in Grozny.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by William James and Andrew MacAskill)
