> Did he think he could quickly take Ukraine and the West wouldn't interfere?
No and yes. He's taking it slowly because he knows the West won't interfere.
It's not a blitz, it's a siege.
No and yes. He's taking it slowly because he knows the West won't interfere.
It's not a blitz, it's a siege.
Paratroopers/fast armor columns and sieges aren't mutually exclusive, they can be used to probe weaknesses in a siege.
There's a traffic jam of refugees at the border, but the roads, railways and airports are still there and in Ukranian control? I don't see what obstacle there is.
They expected capitulation by Sunday, with some ongoing attrition medium term. This is both from US Intel and now confirmation via a deleted, but luckily web archived, article/commentary on one of their major state-media sites, praising the (now impossible) “success” and their resurgence, while also flaunting the west.
I don't know what US intel you're referring to, so no comment.
In the end, we shall see, but from their positioning imo it looks like a siege.