Let’s hear from political scientist Mark Galeotti now, who describes Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson as “making sense militarily” – and claims generals have wanted to do so for weeks.
Instead, President Putin has “stubbornly held on” for fear of political embarrassment, he tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The author of Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine, says one of the most “striking” qualities of this war has been “Putin’s desire to micromanage” – despite having barely any military experience himself.
It isn’t yet clear whether Kherson signals a change in that – and Putin will now let the “generals do the generaling” – or if it’s simply a one-off, Galeotti says.
But what is clear, he adds, is that after eight months there’s been a “major shift in Putin trying to win this war to trying not to lose it”.
Source: BBC