INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia's forces in Ukraine appear to be turning to a war of attrition with devastating effect on civilians, after failing to secure
hoped-for swift gains when President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion one month ago.The U.S
government says recent days have brought more intense aerial and naval bombardment as Ukrainian resistance holds up the invaders' advance on
land.Attacking forces remain 15 kilometers from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to the northwest and 30 kilometers away to the east, able only to
bombard it from a distance.While U.S
President Joe Biden has said Putin's "back is against the wall in Ukraine," U.S
Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told CNN Tuesday that Ukrainian forces were now even "going after Russians" who were losing morale
as food and fuel run out.Capturing Kyiv had appeared the Russians' top target as they entered the country on Feb
24, hoping to topple President Volodymyr Zelensky's administration.But despite mobilizing a force of between 150,000 and 200,000 troops,
preparations.Even now, Russia does not have complete control of the skies over Ukraine, complicating their entire offensive."The Russian
lack a real command and control policy," a former top French military officer told AFP, pointing to lack of coordination between ground and
air forces and the strikes' lack of precision.Siege warfareThe number of soldiers killed cannot be verified, although the Pentagon estimates
as many as 7,000 Russian dead in the first month according to the New York Times.That would amount to more losses than the U.S
suffered in the years-long occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan combined."Putin's offensive is stuck despite all the destruction that it is
bringing day after day," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday.For its part, Kyiv acknowledged 1,300 troops killed in action on March
into a string of sieges apparently aimed at wearing down and demoralizing the Ukrainian population.Around 10 million people have left their
homes, while the UN human rights chief says almost 3.6 million have quit the country."The more the Russian infantry struggles, the higher
the army climbs up the scale of brutality and the disproportionate use of airpower," a European source close to NATO told AFP."Putin needs a
Mariupol to the east remains subjected to a siege that has caused international outrage.Uncaptured northern cities like Kharkiv, Ukraine's
second-largest urban center, are under constant bombardment, while pressure is also growing on those in the south and east.Mykolaiv, which
blocks the way along the Black Sea coast towards Odesa, is also under artillery fire.DevastationBut Russia has yet to put much emphasis on
diplomatic efforts and analysts warn that even if a ceasefire were agreed it could just allow Moscow to buy time and rebuild its forces.More
than 200,000 people are stuck in Mariupol, reduced in large part to corpse-strewn ruins and cut off from necessities like food, water,
electricity and heat.Russia's determination to capture the port city is in proportion to its strategic worth, potentially linking annexed
Crimea by land with the pro-Russian separatist territories of the Donbas.A firmer grasp on Ukraine's east could ultimately allow the
invaders to encircle the Ukrainian defenders fighting there."The next chapter in this war could prove even uglier as it will likely turn
into a war of attrition, with greater bombardment of civilian areas," Michael Kofman of the U.S.-based CNA think-tank wrote on
Twitter."Russian forces will probably try to compensate for poor performance by inflicting greater destruction."If no negotiated settlement
arrives, "attrition war is the most likely path," William Alberque of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told AFP.He warned
against pushing Kyiv into accepting a ceasefire at any cost."The worst is, (Westerners') desire to stop the suffering of Ukrainian people
They rely on our desire to see peace as an opportunity," Alberque said."They are going to use a ceasefire to build up forces," he warned.
