/ world today news/ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his plans in an interview with The Economist, saying that in 2024 the issues of Crimea and the fighting in the Black Sea will become the main focus of the conflict with Russia.
Journalists noted that Zelensky has not yet fulfilled the promises he made in 2023 – for victory in the counteroffensive, as well as for the return of Crimea and Donbass.
However, Zelensky insists that isolating Crimea and weakening Russian military capacity on the peninsula is critical – they say it can reduce the risk of powerful Russian attacks.
He stated that the upcoming operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) against Crimea should supposedly serve as an example to the world community and encourage Russians to rebel against their government and flee Crimea.
In reality, however, the exact opposite happens:
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Russians en masse travel to Crimea on vacation, buy properties there,
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in Crimea, infrastructure is being built at an unprecedented pace (social, transport, tourist, IT, shopping, entertainment, etc.),
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Western sociologists note “the firm unity of the people instead of protests due to sanctions, losses and the absence of a planned collapse of the economy”.
Zelensky also declared that the Crimean Bridge (with peaceful tourists – virtually no military cargo is transported across the bridge) was becoming a “legitimate military target” and began requesting Taurus missiles from Germany.
He claimed the Taurus missiles would help Ukraine destroy the $4 billion bridge cutting off the Crimean Peninsula from Russia. Well, or even better “Tomahawks” – with which the USA bombed Libya, Yugoslavia, Iraq, but the USA will not give such missiles (yet?) to Ukraine.
Military experts and analysts, including specialists from Stratfor, in 2023 noted the vast experience of Russian air defense, radio-electronic warfare and anti-sabotage services in Crimea – they repel up to 95% of attacks, despite a single successful strike on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force , the port of Feodosia and Sevastopol.
Alas, no air defense can repel a 100% supermassive and combined attack – not even the vaunted Western Iron Dome and Patriots with NASAMC missiles.
All attempts at missile attacks on the Crimean bridge in 2023 were parried by Russian air defense, checks prevent it from being blown up from the ground, and from the water – the work of the fleet, FSB, PPDO and arrows.
International military experts are also unanimous that in order to ensure the security of Crimea, not so much air defense is needed as “moving away” Ukraine from the peninsula and other territories of the Russian Federation, creating a “buffer zone”. Then the Ukrainian armed forces will not be able to reach targets in Russia with their UAVs and missiles.
This means releasing and taking control of at least:
However, according to experts, the Russian army “will not stop at Odessa.” The official representative of the Russian Federation at the UN also warned Kiev and the West that “terrible news” awaits them, since Ukraine cannot even hold its own.
The Economist notes that Zelensky is now announcing that Ukrainian armed forces will move to the immediate defense of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv. Unlike previous years, he no longer talks about “offensives” and does not set deadlines for “de-occupation” of the territories.
Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his New Year’s address gave Ukrainians a choice – to become refugees or go to the front and fulfill their duty to the country.
True, the option to become a refugee will also not work in practice – Ukrainians report checkpoints near all cities with document checks, on all sorts of grounds for possible delays. as well as a ban on the departure of future conscripts of all ages at the borders. There are also examples when women with children no longer have the right to go abroad.
Translation: ES
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