UKRAINE stated on Sunday that Russia, whose troops have been quietly marching towards Kyiv, may be attempting to divide the country into North and South Korean-style divisions.
The strategy, according to Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Defence Intelligence, could be the result of President Vladimir Putin’s inability to “take Kyiv and overthrow Ukraine’s government.”
“There are reasons to believe that he may try to impose a separation line between the occupied and unoccupied regions of our country. In fact, it will be an attempt to set up South and North Koreas in Ukraine,” Budanov said.
After a 1950-53 struggle that ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas are still nominally at war, with an impassable border dividing their peninsula.
The Demilitarised Zone, which is four kilometers wide (2.4 miles) and 248 kilometers long, serves as their border (DMZ).
After failing to overcome the nation’s resistance in a month of combat and attacks on civilians, Russia indicated earlier this week that it may focus its war efforts on eastern Ukraine.
“The invaders will try to set up some quasi-state as an alternative to independent Ukraine,” Budanov said.
“We can see attempts to set up ‘parallel’ local governments in occupied areas and to force people to give up the Ukrainian currency,” he added.
Russia may try to exploit the status of occupied territory as a negotiating chip in negotiations, according to Budanov.
Moscow’s month-long assault on Ukraine’s pro-democracy neighbor has largely halted, with no significant recent advances and Ukrainian forces even able to retaliate in some areas.
