Latest war in Ukraine: Russia sends ‘clear message to Washington’ as it launches ‘massive attack’ on Ukraine’s power grid | World news

Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine is its way of sending a “clear message to Washington” that the country cannot be defeated, an analyst said.

Orysia Lutsevych, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, told Sky News that Moscow wants to show continued support for Ukraine in the war that will come at huge costs to the West.

“I think (the attacks) are to demonstrate, especially (to) President-elect Trump, that Russia cannot be defeated, that the costs of continuing the war in Ukraine are too high for the West and that it result will be useless,” she says. said.

“This is a clear message to Washington, but also a clear message to the Ukrainian people that Putin wants to freeze them out in the winter.”

On concerns about a possible “softening” of Western attitudes towards Russia following German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s phone call with Vladimir Putin, Ms Lutsevych said the Russian leader has not achieved his war aims and so his “best chance” is to undermine the support of the West. for Kiev.

“He’s looking for the weakest link in this unit,” she said.

If Putin achieves “even partial success” in Ukraine, Europe and the rest of the world risk being “emboldened” to move on, Ms. Lutsevych said.