Russian troops have so far failed to subdue the whole of Ukraine. COURTESY
Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, has warned that Russia is trying to apply what he called the "Korean scenario" to Ukraine, having failed to take the capital and depose the legitimate government.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin would try to impose a demarcation line separating the eastern and southern regions from the rest of Ukraine, since he would not be able to absorb the whole country.
Gen Budanov predicted this quasi-state would be unviable, given the resistance of the local population. He said that what he described as a "total Ukrainian guerrilla safari" was about to open.
The general's warning came amid continued reaction to US President Joe Biden's speech in Poland on Saturday, in which he said that Mr Putin should not be allowed to remain in power.
Mr Biden's Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, denied that the US had any plans to bring about regime change in Russia or anywhere else. And French President Emmanuel Macron warned against the verbal escalation of the war in Ukraine, saying this would make it impossible to bring about a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
But this isn't the first time President Biden has veered off-script and thrown a live grenade into an otherwise well-prepared, measured speech. Is that a strength - saying what many of his citizens are thinking - or a weakness?
Our North America reporter Anthony Zurcher takes a look at President Biden's habit of going off-book.
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