It’s eight weeks since the Russian military rolled across the border into Ukraine, telling the world that this was just a “special military operation” aiming to free an oppressed people from what Vladimir Putin called a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis”.
The character of this war on the Ukrainian people has completely changed in recent weeks, after robust defence managed to push Russian forces out of areas in the north and west of the country and forced Russia’s military planners to rethink their strategy. Now attacking forces are focusing on the south and east of the country.
The world is watching the plight of people trapped in the port city of Mariupol in the south, while a massive offensive in the eastern Donbas region is reportedly gathering momentum.
