As Russia’s next actions are reviewed, Vladimir Putin shifts his emphasis to “simple wins” in Ukraine

After Russia agreed to establish a humanitarian corridor, new efforts to evacuate citizens besieged in the damaged Ukrainian city of Mariupol are starting. Entire neighbourhoods in the port city have been levelled, with most of them turned to rubble. After weeks of unrelenting bombing by Putin’s forces, tens of thousands of people remain trapped. He informed French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Tuesday that the bombardment of Mariupol would continue until Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, which would give Russia control of the Avov Sea coastline between Russia and Crimea.

The interim truce comes after Moscow stated it would reduce military activities near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and Chernihiv — promises that have been met with scepticism by the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Jonathan Jackson, a security teaching fellow in police and security at Birmingham City University, the abrupt shift in strategy represents a deliberate shift to prioritise “easy victories.”

“I think Putin has accepted something resembling a defeat in the struggle for Kyiv for the time being,” he told Express.co.uk.

“It is typical in any military battle to shift strategic focus in order to exploit enemy vulnerabilities and build on military triumphs.”

“The Russians have been more victorious in the south because of conditions which have proven more favourable.”

Mr Jackson referred to the 1941 Battle of Moscow, noting that Adolf Hitler’s inability to seize the Russian capital played a significant part in the Axis’ failure to destroy the USSR.

“This has been compounded with weaker military troops stationed in the region, logistical challenges, and a bad train network,” he stated.

“The Russian army relies on rail to move its men around, and the network in the south is far better maintained than the network in the north.”

“It is more likely that Putin has opted to concentrate on simple victories and consolidate his captured territory in order to position himself more favourably in future rounds of diplomacy.”

While Russia maintains it would reduce its operations in Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed this on Thursday.

It did, however, acknowledge that a minor number of Russian forces had withdrawn.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby has also stated that Putin’s advisors may not be informed him of the actual scope of the Russian army’s shortcomings in recent weeks.

“If Mr Putin is being kept in the dark by his Ministry of Defence, you don’t know what sort of reaction he’ll have when he realises how badly his military is doing in Ukraine,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“It might undoubtedly influence how they negotiate, and lead to poorer consequences for Ukraine.”

On Thursday morning, Jeremy Fleming, the chief of the United Kingdom’s cyber-intelligence organisation GCHQ, stated that Russia had “massively overestimated” the power of the United States.

“The Russian military forces have lived up to their image as lambs in wolf’s garb,” he stated.

“Endemic corruption, bad leadership, a lack of change, and insecure communication networks have all contributed to their incapacity to take and hold crucial posts.”

“These command and control failings will be impossible to resolve overnight, and it is probable that unpleasant realities will suddenly be all the rage behind the Kremlin’s doors.”

Putin, according to Mr Jackson, will need to listen to previously marginalised experts in order for the Russian army to make “the last push.”