Russia has been “severely embarrassed” by Ukrainian advances inside the country and the evacuation of residents from border regions will “play poorly” among the public, an analyst has said.
Matthew Savill, military sciences director at the Royal United Services Institute, said Russia’s response to the invasion has not been “particularly impressive” despite Russian forces managing to halt some advances.
“The Russians have been severely embarrassed and the loss of territory and evacuation of civilians will play poorly back in Russia as evidence they ‘can’t defend themselves’,” he said.
However, Mr Savill cautioned that sustaining a force inside Russia and defending against counter attacks will be “hard” due to Ukraine’s “limited reserves”.
“While the Ukrainians have reversed the public narrative about being on the defensive, it seems unlikely they would want to sustain a large incursion for months; they will have a decision to make about the best time to trade in the ground they have captured, and to what end,” he said.
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