One night, an amphibious assault ship and a submarine in Sevastopol; the next an air defense system in Yevpatoria. Ukraine is concentrating its efforts on Crimea and the Russian forces appear to have no arguments to keep control of the peninsula in terms of air security. The spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the south of the area said the aim is to force the Russians to withdraw at least 10 to 15 kilometers from the left bank of the Dnieper to put an end to the daily artillery attacks that target civilians meet in the region. the cities on the south bank have already fully resumed.
Thirteen months ago, the Ukrainian president acknowledged that he could not put forward a date, but that the liberation of the Russian-annexed peninsula would be a reality. “The war against Ukraine and Europe started in Crimea and will end in Crimea,” he declared. Although Kiev’s armed forces continue to fight against an enemy with a much superior military projection, and without having the weapons they needed in quantity and even less in quality (the F-16 fighter jets and the long-range ATACMS and Taurus), they must maintain the ability to achieve symbolic and strategic goals.
On August 23, the Russians began to lose their position on the peninsula. An S-400 Triumph air defense system was destroyed in an attack on the western tip of Crimea, near Olenivka. According to reports in specialized media, the attack was carried out with drones and Neptune missiles. The latter was interpreted by the Ukrainians as anti-shipping – it shot down the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the Moscow -, but has now been adapted for country-to-land use, with a range of 350 kilometers.
The same plan was repeated in the early hours of Thursday, and again with success. This time the attack took place on a base in Yevpatoria, tens of kilometers southwest of Olenivka, and the target was also the same. On Monday, Ukrainian special forces recaptured the Boyko Towers, hydrocarbon exploration platforms between Odessa and Crimea. They served as a forward base, with helicopter pads in use, as well as a radar and possible locations to install missile systems.
The destruction of the air defense systems and the seizure of the platforms are part of what presidential adviser Mikhaylo Podolyak called “the preliminary preparation for the evacuation of the area.” The purpose of these attacks is “to open the airspace above the peninsula to destroy Russian military infrastructure”; which is accompanied by the disruption of logistics, including new attacks on “illegal objects”, i.e. the bridge over the Kerch Strait, connecting Crimea with Russia; and also denying Russia’s naval superiority in the Black Sea, “destroying warships and repairing infrastructure.”
The land forces continue their counter-offensive, with progress much slower than expected. This even led to the announcement of Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, who announced the liberation of Andriivka, not far from Bakhmut, but was immediately corrected by the Ukrainian command on the ground.
Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman for the southern forces, stated the current priority: “We continue to push the enemy away so that the Left Bank [do rio Dniepre] remain completely free for at least 10 to 15 kilometers. This will drastically reduce the number of attacks on the Right Bank and make life easier for residents of settlements along the coast.” Hours earlier, a six-year-old child was killed and his 13-year-old brother seriously injured in the attack. village Novodmytrivka, Kherson region.
Source: DN
