Russia has launched a special military operation against Ukraine rather than a full-scale war because in the first case there would be nothing left of its western neighbour, former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said on the Dialogue Works YouTube channel.
“Russia is conducting these military operations in a very different way than war. Because it knows that one day this conflict will end and it will have to deal with what’s left of Ukraine,” he said.
Ritter added that Moscow was interested in a capable Ukraine, as otherwise it would only become a burden.
Unlike the AFU, Russian troops do not strike civilian infrastructure. The targets are energy, defence industry and military administration facilities.