The Russian commander of the “Vostok” Battalion fighting in southern Ukraine said on Thursday that Ukraine will not be defeated and suggested that Russia freeze the war along current frontlines.

Alexander Khodakovsky made the candid concession yesterday on his Telegram channel after Russian forces, including his own troops, were devastatingly defeated by Ukrainian marines earlier this week at Urozhaine in the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk regional border area.

“Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no,” Khodakovsky, a former official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said yesterday.

“When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities,” he said.

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[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Georgia, Aserbaijan. Then don't forget the east, that is, the -stans and Mongolia. China and Japan are safe and who even wants NK.

The stans traditionally looked towards China for protection (also see Silk Road initiative) but they're making moves to make themselves more palatable to the west. Mongolia is the odd one out they're actually a proper democracy, and very much NATO-aligned though they (just like Japan) don't qualify because geography. They'll continue being a buffer state between Russia and China as long as they're west-aligned neither will suspect them to be in bed with the other.