CIA Director William Burns, 66, urged Ukraine’s military to “puncture Putin’s hubris,” in one of the most bizarre statements recorded during the 12-mont old war. Burns said the war was reaching a critical mass, requiring the Ukrainian military to make its move on Crimea, home to Russian’s warm-water fleet in Sevastopol. U.S. and Ukraine military planners see the war’s progress pivoting around retaking the Crimean Peninsula, something lost March 1, 2014 while Biden was former President Barack Obama’s Vice President. Obama and Biden did nothing at the time to repel the Russian military, only days after a Feb, 22, 2014 CIA-pro-Western coup toppled the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin seized Crimea to protect his naval base, something he takes seriously now. Talking openly about retaking Crimea is a change of strategy for the Kiev government.
Sending U.S., German and British battle tanks to Kiev, the Western alliance hopes to break through Russian defenses in Crimea for the ultimate battle of the war. Burns said that 70-year-old President Vladimir Putin is “betting right now he can make time work for him” and “grind down Ukrainians,” despite the new advance arms sent to Kiev. Burns thinks the next six months of war are “critical” heading into the war’s second year. Burns sees the war as a battle of wits with Putin, hoping to “puncture Putin’s hubris,” hoping to drive Russia out of Crimea, then out of Ukraine. Instead of encouraging Ukraine to go to the peace table for cease fire and settlement, Burns makes some crass statement about “puncturing Putin’s hubris.” What does the Ukraine War have to do with hubris? Burns only encourages more war, destruction and carnage in Ukraine, with an illusion that all Ukraine needs is more war materiel.
Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has battled Putin at his own risk after nearly one year. Zelensky has lost 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, bombed Ukraine into oblivion and driven some 15 million citizens out of their homes. Now Burns admits that the critical part of Ukraine’s military offensive involves driving Russia out of Crimea, something new for Kiev with all the U.S. cash-and-weapons. Before the war, Russia controlled Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer for an early settlement to the war by accepting the independence of Donetsk, Luhansk and Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Burns wants Putn to know “that he’s not only not going to be able to advance further in Ukraine, but as every month goes by, he runs a greater and greater risk of losing territory that he’s illegally seized from Ukraine so far,” Burns said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg agreed with Burns that Kiev entered a “decisive phase,” armed with more lethal weapons to drive Russia out of occupied territory. Burns knows that Russia is gearing up for a Spring Time offensive, something Kiev must resist with its new weapon systems. Ukraine’s War has turned into a war of attrition, where both sides inflict heavy casualties. Whatever new tanks Kiev gets from the U.S., German and U.K., it’s uncertain whether the war takes and ugly turn when Putin battles back against Kiev’s new weapons. “We think that, give they live in symbolism, they are going to try to attempt something around Feb. 24,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksi Reznikov told French TV station BFMTV. “We must do everything to ensure that Crimea returns home by summer,” said Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Buandov, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Chief.
So, Kiev decided with all the new offensive weapons they must push to return Crimea back to Kiev, something once thought impossible at the outset of war. “Crimea will be returned to us. I’ll tell you more: It all started in Crimea in 2014, and it will all end there,” Budanov said. Budanov knows that Crimea is an armed Russian camp, with most of its arms concentrated in the area to protect Russia’s Sevastopol Naval base. Western press doesn’t recall that a Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed, pro-Western coup evicted the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yankovych. One week later, Putin annexed Crimea to protect his Sevastopol naval base. Budanov seeks to evict Russia from Crimea, reasoning that much of Russia’s military might is based in Crimea. Zelensky wants to go for the gusto, thinking he can, with new U.S. weapons, toss the Russian military out of the Crimean Peninsula.
U.S. military planners now think that the secret of ridding Russia from Ukraine is taking over Crimea. “The decisive terrain for the war is Crimea. The Ukrainian government know that they cannot settle for Russia retrain control of Crimea,” said retired Lt. Gen Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army Europe. So, the master of clandestine operations, William Burns has telegraphed to Putin that the Battle Royale is about to start with the Ukrainian military battling for Crimea. Budanov and Hodges know that Russia won’t give up Crimea without a major fight, supported by the full strength of the Russian military. Whatever tanks Kiev deploys to Crimea, Russia’s anti-tank arsenal should defend the strategic Crimea battlefield. “The next few months will see Ukraine seeking the conditions for the eventual liberation of Crimea,” said Hodges, knowing the sacrifices to the Ukraine military.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
