As world watches Iran, Russia goes on spring offensive

Kyiv: The Iran war has deflected global attention from Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour Ukraine as Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II enters its fifth year and an emboldened Kremlin undertakes a spring offensive.

The past week showed that neither side is easing up.

Russia on Tuesday fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at Ukraine in one of the war’s biggest bombardments. The following day Ukraine launched almost 400 drones in the largest reported overnight attack on Russian regions and Crimea.

Ukraine’s fate is still Europe’s top foreign policy issue, fuelled by fears that Moscow has wider ambitions. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has wound down talks with Russian and Ukrainian delegations as the Iran war grips its attention. The administration has warned it could turn its back on the conflict if peace efforts come to nothing.

Only weeks ago, the Russian economy was starting to feel the pinch of sanctions. But Russia is now raking in billions of dollars from a temporary US waiver on oil sanctions against Moscow.

The measure taken earlier this month aims to free up Russian oil cargo stranded at sea and ease supply shortages caused by the Middle East conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the US move was “not the right decision” because it will further enable Russia’s military campaign.

Fighting escalates

After a winter of relative calm on the front line, Russia is gearing up for the summer fighting season as fields dry out.

Russian forces are in an early phase of a spring offensive, assaulting Ukraine’s eastern so-called Fortress Belt of cities, said Elina Beketova of the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based think tank. “Over the past weeks, the Russians have intensified pressure on the battlefield and in the air,” she said. In Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Ukraine’s industrial heartland long coveted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the situation is “critical”, she said, though Ukrainian troops say they

are holding firm.