By Peter Zeihan
There are three main assaults to follow: one of strategic importance and the others being a mix of strategic and emotional significance.
The purely strategic assault is a multi-pronged move on Zaporizhia in hopes of pushing south to the Sea of Azov. This would sever the land bridges of Ukraine proper and Russia proper…splitting the front in two.
The second assault was supposed to be an amphibious assault further down the river that would eventually cut off the Crimean Peninsula. The Russians foiled those plans with the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
The third assault is a push east into the Donbas. This would be no easy feat, but it’s on the table for one reason: if the Ukrainians can reclaim territory that Russia seized in 2014, it would be a global humiliation. Humiliating enough to convince some of those Russian backers to reconsider their allegiances.
Oh yeah, one more thing:
The information on the Zaporizhia offensive comes from Russian military bloggers, not the Ukrainians. Kyiv seems to have operational security down. I’ve heard a lot of details, but nothing that I’m in a position to authenticate. Ergo, this video’s broad-brush approach.
Peter Zeihan is a world expert in geopolitics: the study of how place impacts financial, economic, cultural, political, and military developments.
He presents customized executive briefings to a wide array of audiences including financial professionals, Fortune 500 firms, energy investors, and a mix of industrial, power, agricultural, and consulting associations and corporations.
Mr. Zeihan has been featured in, and cited by, numerous newspapers and broadcasts including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, AP, Bloomberg, CNN, ABC, The New York Times, Fox News, and MarketWatch.