“Russia’s initial objectives of controlling large swaths of Ukraine has been nothing short of a complete failure. The Kremlin probably views that forcibly holding Kherson would provide Russia a land bridge to Crimea, as well as gaining some kind of so-called victory and attempt to justify Russia — to Russia’s domestic audiences — [of] the thousands of lives Putin’s war of choice has destroyed,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday, CNN reports.

He stressed that the Kremlin’s proxies could not gain any legitimacy in the occupied territories.

“Russia is almost certainly failing to gain legitimacy for proxy governments in newly seized territories in Ukraine, as protests persist, and residents refuse to cooperate,” Price added.

Price noted that the United States remains “concerned about steps Russia is taking to attempt to institutionalize control over sovereign Ukrainian territory, particularly in Ukraine’s Kherson region.”

“The Kremlin is probably weighing a few approaches, from recognizing a so-called People’s Republic, as Russia forcibly did in Donetsk and Luhansk, to an attempted annexation, just as Russia did in Crimea,” the U.S. State Department spokesperson summed up.

On February 24, Russia launched a new phase of the eight-year war against Ukraine – a full-scale offensive. The enemy massively shells and bombs peaceful Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages. The Armed Forces, the Territorial Defense Forces and the entire Ukrainian people effectively resist Russian troops and inflict heavy losses on them.