Russia appeared to expand its territorial ambitions in the 21st week of its war on Ukraine, as it resumed the offensive in the eastern Donetsk region and received some rare international support for what it calls a “special military operation”.
In an interview published by Russian state news agency Ria Novosti on Wednesday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia had departed from its shrunken official goal of occupying the two eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which together comprise the Donbas region.
“It is not only about the DNR and LNR,” said Lavrov, referring to the regions by the acronyms of their self-proclaimed people’s republics, “but also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhia region, and also other territories,” he said.
After Russian forces withdrew from areas around Kyiv on March 25, Lavrov had said that the “special military operation” in Ukraine was over and Russia would focus on the two eastern regions.
But Russian forces have continued to occupy parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in southern Ukraine, which they seized early in the war, and escalate the “Russification” of the regions amid fears that Moscow is planning for annexation.
In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the process for residents in the Russian-held areas of those regions to apply for Russian passports and citizenship.
The Russian-installed government reportedly plans to introduce the Russian curriculum in local schools. Moscow’s most recent decree extends Russian censorship law to the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, criminalising criticism of Russia. Offenders can be punished with deportation to Russia.
-Aljazeera