麻豆约拍

As Russia strikes at Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, resulting in dozens being killed and hundreds injured, and a convoy of armoured vehicles 60km long approaching Kyiv, military reports suggest that the assault on the country and its people are becoming more intense.

Jonathan Marcus, a defence analyst from the University of Exeter's Strategy and Security Institute, says that as an earlier "lighter approach" did not bring about a speedy victory, the Russian strategy has shifted to one that will being more firepower, destruction and casualties. He says that the movement of Russian troops inside Ukraine are risking Ukrainian troops being cut off, and that that may mean ceding territory if the forces there need to pull back. However, he goes on to say that Putin may have been surprised by the speed and scale of sanctions, and the Western unity, that has seen among other things, a change in German policy, and an EU decision to fund weaponry.

Photo: Russian convoy on the T-1011 highway near Kyiv, Ukraine, 28 February 2022 Credit: EPA