The aricle itself points out that "Moscow's advances since then have been incremental and are unlikely to be rapid in the short-term but hold-ups in Western aid for Kyiv threaten to hand Vladimir Putin the initiative." It's pure rhetoric intended to pursuade legislators to vote for more aid.
The Russians spent themselves on this crazy meatgrinder assault in strategically irrelevant Avdiivka so that Putin can campaign for Czar based on the success of his two day conquest of a sovereign country.
But what will he do if he conquers Ukraine and must repress 40 milion people who hate him... especially as his 19th century economy collapses?
Meanwhile, Ukraine is making life miserable for Russians in Crimia.
Link: https://news.yahoo.com/head-hur-announces-strikes-crimea-163500010.html