Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors one year later: You are healing from your wounds and rising above them. You have successfully passed the test
Palestinian media: Reports of stabbing operation in occupied al-Quds.
Israeli media: Sirens blare in Arava in South, near Ramon Airport.
Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouli: Egypt is targeted in plans to redraw regional map
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: Our presence in IAEA General Council and fact-checking helped in preventing unilateral rhetoric that aims to portray Iran as an unregulated country

Putin's 'in earnest' phase in Ukraine has begun

  • Salam al-Obaidi Salam al-Obaidi
  • Source: Al Mayadeen Net
  • 21 Sep 2022 14:52
  • 3 Shares
4 Min Read

The referendum is a strategic move that flips the balance of power in the Russian-NATO conflict in Russia’s favor and puts the collective West’s credibility at stake.

  • x
  • Putin's

On the 7th of past July, when Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with heads of Russian parliamentary blocs, said that Moscow hadn't yet started its special military operation in Ukraine in earnest. Everyone assumed, especially in Western capitals, that he was hinting at an imminent military escalation by the Russian forces. But the two-and-a-half-month period that has passed since then has proved just the opposite. The Ukrainian forces, backed by new shipments of Western weapons, were the ones that initiated the military escalation.

Putin: “In general, Russia has not yet started in Ukraine in earnest”

The West was disappointed, and the offensive of the Ukrainian forces in Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Kherson was smothered, when the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions surprised everyone by announcing the organization of a referendum on their accession to the Russian Federation. These are precisely the earnest steps that Putin was referring to.

If the accession of Donetsk and Lugansk to Russia was a settled issue (but postponed since 2014 when the two republics held a referendum on secession from Ukraine), then the accession of Kherson and Zaporizhia to the Russian state is a strategic and geopolitical necessity in terms of militarily and logistically securing Crimea and connecting it to the Russian mainland.

Of course, this Russian preemptive step will force Ukraine to further its military escalation and NATO to increase military support to the Kiev regime. However, Moscow's opponents will suddenly find themselves engaged in a war in Russian lands, not only de facto but legally as well. As Deputy Chairman of the Russian National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said, this is why Kiev and the West are so afraid of these referendums.

Related News

6 hours in Alaska: A meeting that empowered Putin with little progress on peace

What is happening in the Middle East?

Medvedev: “Encroachment onto Russian territory is a crime, and if committed, allows you to use all your force in self-defense”

Thus, the referendum is a strategic move that flips the balance of power in the Russian-NATO conflict in Russia’s favor and puts the collective West’s credibility at stake and in the face of two options: either retreat and enter into negotiations with Moscow on the security guarantees it requested before the outbreak of the crisis, or engage in further military escalation until reaching a direct clash with Russia. However, it is clear from the statements made by the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, that the NATO Alliance is not in the process of waging a war against Russia, in which Europe will be its battlefield.

Bauer: “NATO is not at war with Russia. I have to be very clear about that.. If Russia would attack one of our allies, then it is absolutely clear, and we make that as clear as we can to Russia, that we would defend every inch of allied territory. Then Russia and NATO will be in a conflict. But until that moment, NATO is not at war with Russia.”

To be historically correct, during the bloody winter events in Ukraine in 2014, the Russian President warned his then-American counterpart, Barack Obama, that the West’s continued interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine and attempts to distance Ukraine from Russia would lead to the disintegration of this country, and it would open the appetite of Ukraine’s greedy neighbors to annex parts of it under claims that it historically belongs to them, such as Poland, Romania and Hungary.

It was the West that created and fueled the Ukrainian crisis for years, and it is hard to imagine that the decision-makers in NATO countries, along with their advisors and experts, were not able to foresee such a dramatic development that threatens to break up Ukraine. Is the demise of Ukraine a common target for Russia and its opponents?

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin
  • Nato
  • Russia
  • Zelenzky
  • Putin
  • Ukraine
Salam al-Obaidi

Salam al-Obaidi

Director of Al Mayadeen bureau in Moscow

Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

Most Read

All
Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
UKLFI’s latest faux pas, like "Israel’s" recent failed attempt at regime change in Iran, is unambiguously indicative of a flailing entity on the verge of extinction. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Zionist lawfare operation facing collapse?

  • Opinion
  • 13 Sep 2025
In the immediate aftermath of Parubiy’s slaying, claims emerged he had months earlier requested formal protection from the SBU, only to be rebuffed. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

The Ukrainian neo-Nazi who knew too much?

  • Opinion
  • 5 Sep 2025
The West Bank is on the verge of catastrophe

The West Bank is on the verge of catastrophe

  • Opinion
  • 9 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS