[Goose]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-for...19145.html

This article has lots of "good stuff" in it. In particular

As we noted earlier, one of the goals could be to force Russia to pull troops out of the land they occupy in Ukraine.
That’s something our source with direct knowledge of the operations confirmed.
“The goal is to deconcentrate Russian forces,” said the source, adding that there is no planned end to this invasion.
“We will go as far as our logistics take us,” he posited.
Using this incident as a bargaining chip for any sort of peace negotiation, or pressure towards those ends, is also a possibility. The idea that Ukraine has successfully pushed relatively deep into Russian territory with a regular force and has persisted there is clearly a massive propaganda and psychological warfare win.
As for how long this lasts and how such a bold but risky operation will be viewed internally by Ukrainians at a time when the country is struggling to hold the lines within its own borders, time will tell.

References all the previously checked boxes plus adding the "bargaining chip" thought. IMO there is no way in the world Russia will negotiate a peace or even a cease fire with Ukrainians present on Russian soil in "significant" numbers. Politically that would be viewed as admitting defeat. Putin will never do that.

[Goose]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-for...19145.html

This article has lots of "good stuff" in it. In particular

As we noted earlier, one of the goals could be to force Russia to pull troops out of the land they occupy in Ukraine.
That’s something our source with direct knowledge of the operations confirmed.
“The goal is to deconcentrate Russian forces,” said the source, adding that there is no planned end to this invasion.
“We will go as far as our logistics take us,” he posited.
Using this incident as a bargaining chip for any sort of peace negotiation, or pressure towards those ends, is also a possibility. The idea that Ukraine has successfully pushed relatively deep into Russian territory with a regular force and has persisted there is clearly a massive propaganda and psychological warfare win.
As for how long this lasts and how such a bold but risky operation will be viewed internally by Ukrainians at a time when the country is struggling to hold the lines within its own borders, time will tell.

References all the previously checked boxes plus adding the "bargaining chip" thought. IMO there is no way in the world Russia will negotiate a peace or even a cease fire with Ukrainians present on Russian soil in "significant" numbers. Politically that would be viewed as admitting defeat. Putin will never do that.