Russia vows to achieve all goals set for Ukraine war

Two top Russian security officials vow that Moscow will achieve all the goals set for the “military operation” in Ukraine, appearing to address the fact that the invasion, expected by many to be a blitzkrieg, has entered its fourth month this week.

The secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, says in an interview published today that the Russian government “is not chasing deadlines.”

“Nazism must either be 100% eradicated, or it will raise its head in a few years, and in an even uglier form,” he says in a response to a question about the war dragging on.

Russia has falsely called the war a campaign to “denazify” Ukraine — a country with a democratically elected Jewish president who wants closer ties with the West.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says at a meeting of security officials that Russia is deliberately slowing down its offensive by arranging ceasefires and humanitarian corridors “in order to avoid casualties among the civilians.”

AP’s reporting on the ground found that the Russian forces have repeatedly hit civilian targets, such as hospitals, schools and venues where civilians were sheltering.