Why didn't Putin advance beyond Crimea and Donbas in 2014?

The Kremlin had the opportunity in 2014 to seize almost all of left-bank Ukraine. However, it lacked the resolve at that time.

This view was expressed in an interview with Natalia Moseichuk by the commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade and head of the "National Corps," Andriy Biletsky. According to him, Vladimir Putin gained much less in 2014 than he lost.

"He could have taken the entire left-bank Ukraine. Literally. That is, he could have simply sent in the troops," Biletsky said.

The commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade noted that the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at that time was 140,000, with less than 50 in combat-ready condition. He added that Ukraine had no means to defend itself at that time.

"He lacked the character. He acted not like a conqueror, but like a KGB agent... he himself was not ready for a full-scale (war, — ed.)," he stated.

Biletsky further mentioned that one of the reasons for the invasion in 2022 was Putin's internal resentment and the realization that he had become a "political loser."

He also suggested imagining what would have happened if Moscow had seized the moment back then, deployed troops across all of left-bank Ukraine, held a "referendum," and reinstated the fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych.

"But he didn't do that. A KGB agent is not a military leader; it's a completely different persona," Biletsky added.

As previously reported, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Putin failed to achieve his goals both in the war with Ukraine and in his attempts to dismantle the coalition in the West.