(NewsNation Now) — Russian President Vladimir Putin does not need to conquer Ukraine to win the war, NewsNation’s Leland Vittert said on “Rush Hour.”
“They don’t need to actually invade all over the country,” Vittert said. “They don’t really want to go and fight an insurgency war with the Ukrainian military out here in the west.”
Since Russian troops have moved into rebel-held areas — the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic — in eastern Ukraine after Putin recognized their independence Monday, Vittert believes that those regions now have enough troops to capture major cities like Kyiv.
“They have enough troops to the north and Belarus that they can threaten Kyiv, cut it off from all land routes out of Poland,” Vittert said. They can also cut it off from all air routes, and simply squeeze Ukraine until the government there, the pro-Western government, gives up and no longer becomes capable of running their country.”
An estimated 190,000 Russian troops surround Ukraine, even though Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade the country.
In response, President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced new sanctions on Russia including on two large financial institutions, Russian sovereign debt, and Russian elites and their family members. He also directed additional U.S. troops and equipment to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.
Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, backed by Russia, have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014, Vittert explained, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported the establishment of a separatist in eastern Ukraine.
“What’s the difference today is the troops that moved across are being called ‘peacekeepers,'” Vittert said. “What’s going to happen is that there is a line of contact that Ukrainian military is filled and the Russians are moving (in that direction).”
Putin has remained stubborn throughout the Ukraine crisis with his insistence that he sent troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine to “keep the peace.”
The relationship between Ukraine and Russia has evolved in the more than 20 years since Ukraine has become its own nation. 87% of those born after independence was declared in 1991 identify as Ukrainian while 21 percent of those born before 1991 call themselves “Soviet people.”
In July 2021, Putin wrote a letter explaining what Russia wants with Ukraine. In the letter, Putin described Ukraine as “one nation” and declared the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 as a “disintegration of historical Russia”.
Putin also believes that Ukraine’s leaders are running an “anti-Russian project.” Vittert said this is why Putin is so hell-bent on getting Ukraine back.
“When Vladimir Putin talks about wanting to bring Ukraine back, remember, he had Ukraine just like Belarus back in 2014. It was eight years ago today, Feb. 22. That is a huge, huge embarrassment of Vladimir Putin, Ukrainians threw out Putin’s puppet. Eight years later, he’s back and the soldiers are making sure one of his puppets is installed once again.”
Other Western nations have also announced several sanctions against Russia. Germany has stopped the development of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was slated to bring Russian natural gas into Germany.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
Watch “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C.
