Russia has expanded its war aims in Ukraine, says bullish Lavrov

Moscow’s military plans could intensify if the West sends Ukraine more long-range missiles, he added

Russia’s war is no longer limited to focusing on the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, Moscow’s foreign minister has claimed.

The scope of military action has been expanded to include more areas for combat, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Moscow’s plans – amid what it calls its “special military operation” – could expand even further if the West delivers long-range missiles to Ukraine, he said as reported by state news agency RIA Novosti.

Lavrov’s comments were the clearest acknowledgment yet that Russia’s war goals have expanded over the five months of war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba retorted that Russia rejected diplomacy and wanted “blood, not talks”.

Also on Wednesday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the US will send four more high mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars) – that can launch six missiles at a time – to Ukraine after already having sent eight.

The destruction caused by an air strike in the Donbas town of Pryvillya in June (AFP via Getty Images)

On Monday, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu ordered army chiefs to prioritise the destruction of Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons after weapons supplied by the West were used to strike Russian supply lines.

He said the weapons were being used to attack residential areas in eastern Ukraine under the control of Moscow-backed separatists, and to set fire to wheat fields and grain silos.

It came as former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev claimed that peace in Ukraine would be “on Russia’s terms”.

The now deputy head of Russia's Security Council insisted that the country was on course to seize more parts of Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin (left) and his defence minister Sergei Shoigu (Sputnik)

Mr Medvedev said: “Russia will achieve all its goals. There will be peace – on our terms.”

Earlier this month, Vladimir Putin’s troops seized Luhansk – the oblast along with Donetsk that makes up the Donbas region – amid Russia’s “main goal” to “liberate” the region after having failed in attempts to gain control elsewhere.

Russian forces have also made some advances in the south – especially Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions – while continuing to launch missiles across the whole country, causing dozens more deaths this week alone.

When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Putin denied that he had any plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

He said his aim was to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine, while also insisting that Nato broke a post-cold war promise that the military alliance would not expand eastward.

Ukraine and its allies in the West dismissed his assertion about neo-nazis as an excuse for Russia’s expansion.