British intelligence explains Kremlin's claims about new war goals

The British Ministry of Defense reports this on Twitter.

British intelligence draws attention to the fact that on December 8, the spokesman of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, reformulated Russia's main goals of the war against Ukraine. He said that one of the main goals is allegedly “”protection”of residents of the Donbas and south-eastern Ukraine” and added that Russia “still much work to be done” regarding the “liberation” of these territories.

Experts believe that Peskov's comments indicate that Russia's current minimal political goals in the war against Ukraine remain unchanged. Moscow is likely still seeking to extend its control over the entire territory of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.  Currently, the Russian army is giving priority to advancing deep into the Donetsk region.

"However, Russia’s strategy is currently unlikely to achieve its objectives: it is highly unlikely that the Russian military is currently able to generate an effective striking force capable of retaking these areas. Russian ground forces are unlikely to make operationally significant advances within the next several months," British MoD claims.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 12 December 2022

Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/ngW6tfLdtw

???????? #StandWithUkraine ???????? pic.twitter.com/E2XThQO2GD

— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) December 12, 2022