War in Ukraine: Russian inconsistency in Mariupol

On Tuesday May 3, Russian forces attacked the city of Mariupol and the Azovstal factory where Ukrainian civilians are still hiding. A place that we thought was impregnable. “This is part of Vladimir Putin’s hot and cold strategy. He wants to put pressure on the defenders of Mariupol when he initially indicated that he did not want to enter this complex to risk lives. He is gradually maintaining the idea that these Ukrainian fighters are lost, prolongs the ordeal to better make an example of it and punish those who have wanted to resist it in Mariupol since 2014 and more particularly in this last bastion”considers Jean-Paul Palomeros, former Chief of Staff of the French Air Force and former Supreme Commander of NATO.

A contradictory behavior, because at the same time we let out civilians and at the same time we bombarded, there does not seem to be any military logic. “She’s long gone. It’s pure violence to show that anyone who tries to resist must be pitilessly countered. He made propaganda footage with the exit of a hundred civilians. But don’t expect thanks from Putin.”, he continues. The authorities of Mariupol evoke more than 90% of the city in ruins, a scorched earth policy wanted by the Russians: “We come back to this logic of punishment. At this stage Putin does not have much to do with it. He wants to conquer the territory and strike the imagination by showing that there is no other way out than submit”.

But then, should Westerners increase their military aid now? “Yes, this is the crucial moment. There is no possible negotiation, we are in confrontation and the Ukrainians must resist. Their lifeline is this delivery of arms. There is the battle military and economic, in the broad sense, to strangle Ukraine, whose economy has collapsed”emphasizes Jean-Paul Palomeros.