despite the grain agreement, Russia wants to continue to gain ground militarily

Guest of 11 p.m. from franceinfo, Christine Dugoin-Clément, geopolitical analyst for CAPE Europe, believes that the agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine on grain exports “allow [aux Russes] to show that Russia is in a policy of outstretched hands, that it is reasonable. However, this does not mean that operations will be abandoned on the battlefield, quite the contrary.“, which explains why it bombed the port of Odessa the day after the agreement.

The areas in the south and south-east of Ukraine, near Odessa are “particularly important and strategic“, she notes. If the Russian strategy is not entirely transparent, the bombardment of Odessa and its port can consist both of a show of force, a desire to continue to gain ground and to disrupt Ukrainian defense efforts by expanding the areas under attack.