“Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home.” These were the words Volodymyr Zelenskyy used when he broke his week-long silence about Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russian territory.
Beyond sticking it to the Kremlin, the Ukrainian president cited only one purpose for his army’s audacious offensive: to secure a border area that has been used by Russian forces to bombard Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.
Ambiguity about the strategic objectives of the first invasion of Russian territory since the second world war makes sense: it keeps the enemy guessing. It also makes it harder for Ukrainians and their western supporters to deem the offensive a failure if it goes wrong.