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A Ukrainian attempt to retake Crimea would be bloody and difficult
Western support can hardly be relied on too.
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Mr Mykola Bielieskov says Mr Zelensky (right) is now tied to his promise to return Crimea.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Economist
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Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to take over Ukraine in 10 days. Nine months on, he faces serious problems holding on to the slice of territory he did manage to seize. Momentum is on Ukraine’s side following two counter-offensives, around Kharkiv in the north-east, and Kherson in the south, that were conducted with a minimum of loss and a maximum of triumph.
But those victories now raise the prospect of what would be much more humiliating Russian reverses in the Donbas and Crimea, territory seized by Mr Putin in 2014. In an interview published last Thursday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his aim to “return all lands”. This approach chimes with Ukrainian public opinion, but not necessarily with Western backers. They fear that an operation to retake Crimea, or the Donbas (militarily perhaps an easier proposition), might drive Russia into escalation, perhaps even past the nuclear threshold.
