Can Russia take Kyiv? Putin’s spring offensive options explained

When the Russian invasion began on February 24 last year it started with a lightning strike by Moscow’s forces towards Kyiv. It failed spectacularly, but as the one-year anniversary of the war approaches, Zelensky’s government and his military high command have repeatedly raised the alarm about an imminent major Russian offensive. Once again, the Ukrainian capital is a plausible goal for the Kremlin. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and former world heavyweight boxing champion, warned last week that “Kyiv was and still is the real target of the Russians”. President Putin may well attack the city in the near future but as the thinking that underpinned the Churchill-Ismay plan suggests, he is very unlikely to conquer it....