KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, claiming it’s intended to protect civilians. In a televised address, Putin said the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine.
You started by claiming this isn’t a “full scale invasion”, which if the goal is to “demilitarize” Ukraine will require that. Bolstering break-away provinces doesn’t require attacks on the capital. Russia has been using hybrid warfare in Ukraine since Crimea, but now this does begin to look like war and not some one-shot retaliatory strike.
Now it does, I agree. According to the Kremlin, the military operation was paused as it looked like Zelensky was willing to negotiate neutrality. Now that has fallen through, they have resumed the operation today, so it seems like tonight we will see a big escalation in military action now.
Demilitarization is just the reduction of armed forces. So yes you can demilitarize a country without a full scale invasion.
You started by claiming this isn’t a “full scale invasion”, which if the goal is to “demilitarize” Ukraine will require that. Bolstering break-away provinces doesn’t require attacks on the capital. Russia has been using hybrid warfare in Ukraine since Crimea, but now this does begin to look like war and not some one-shot retaliatory strike.
Now it does, I agree. According to the Kremlin, the military operation was paused as it looked like Zelensky was willing to negotiate neutrality. Now that has fallen through, they have resumed the operation today, so it seems like tonight we will see a big escalation in military action now.
Demilitarization is just the reduction of armed forces. So yes you can demilitarize a country without a full scale invasion.