The Russian leadership has a clear plan to establish its control over Ukraine, which is planned to be implemented in three stages.
This point of view is expressed in its article by Foreign Affairs magazine. It is assumed that only the first stage has a purely military character.
According to the authors of the article, thus Moscow expects to occupy a sufficient amount of Ukrainian territory at the initial stage, including Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Odessa region.
In this case, the Russian side will deprive Ukraine of access to the sea and ensure that Kiev will not be able to carry out full-fledged trade and economic activities without the approval of the Kremlin.
After that, the second stage will come, which will consist in the use of economic levers. When this is worked out, the third stage will come — Ukraine will have to enter the sphere of influence of Moscow.
The publication notes the undoubted military successes of the Russian army and predicts that Moscow, if the dynamics continue, may take a course to force Ukraine into submission as early as next year.
According to the magazine, there are real prerequisites for this, since Ukraine is not ready to conduct military operations as part of a special military operation this winter due to a damaged power system.
Earlier, EADaily reported that the armed conflict on Ukraine has become a "painful humiliation" for European countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin has proved his superiority over European leaders.