Russian general let slip the secret plan to invade Moldova and occupy the entire coastline of Ukraine

As the Russian army tightened their siege on the strategic port town of Mariupol, their strategy finally became clear. Russian military commander Rustam Minnekaev now says the second phase of President Vladimir Putin’s “special operation” is focused on establishing a “land corridor” from the Donbas as far as Moldova, which will cut the rest. back of Ukraine from the sea.

“One of the tasks of the Russian military is to establish full control over the Donbas and southern Ukraine. This will provide a land corridor for Crimea, as well as affect important objects of the Ukrainian economy,” Minnekaev said Friday at a meeting with the Defense Industry Union, according to the report. of the Russian state-owned Interfax. “Controlling southern Ukraine is another outlet for Transnistria, where there are also realities of repression against the Russian-speaking community.” Transnistria is a breakaway region of Moldova that has so far not officially entered the war, despite having a Russian military base since the 1990s.

The general’s words suggest that Moldova’s sovereign borders will also be threatened from further Russian expansion. Phoney’s efforts to protect Russian-speaking peoples often foreshadowed Putin’s imperial invasions.

In fact, hundreds of Russian speakers were defeated in eastern Ukraine during the brutal invasion.

If successful, the strategy would include capturing the port of the former seaside resort town of Odesa near the Moldovan border, which has been subjected to sporadic bombardment but no formal invasion to date. . Two weeks ago, the Russian warship Moskva was hit about 75 kilometers off the coast of Odesa before it flew to Crimea.

The re-concentration of troops from northern Ukraine to the southern regions of the country has further suffocated Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops and civilians are holed up in a steel plant besieged by Russian troops. Satellite images identify mass graves growing outside the port city, where Ukrainian officials say up to 200 new graves have been dug since April 3.

While the Russian military has now let much of northern Ukraine salvage sporadic missile attacks, new evidence of Russia’s ruthless tactics there in recent weeks continues to build a case. widespread war crimes. Andrii Nebytov, the head of Kyiv regional police, told CNN they were examining 1,084 bodies found in the Kyiv suburbs, including Bucha, for signs of torture. “These are civilians who have nothing to do with defending the territory or other military forces,” he said. “The vast majority — between 50 percent and 75 percent — are people killed with small arms, machine guns or sniper rifles, depending on the location.”

Among the atrocities was evidence of widespread rape and sexual mutilation. The youngest victim who survived to tell her story was 15 years old, according to CNN. Several women’s bodies in mass graves also show evidence of horrific crimes.

On Friday, the United Nations Office for Human Rights described Russia’s atrocities against Ukrainians as a “horror story of violations against civilians”, now showing signs of abating.