Experts predict an offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Crimea. Ukraine threatens to sink ships of the Black Sea Fleet
The analyst and politicians continue to discuss the prospects for a counter-offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to one of the most common versions, Ukrainian troops, spurred on by the Americans, will try with all their might to break through to Crimea.
“Sevastopol is topic No. 1 for Americans. They had great views of Sevastopol, which is of great strategic importance. It was important for them to place NATO military bases there and establish control over the Black Sea. But in 2014, with the “Russian Spring,” everything fell apart for them. They will not stop convincing Zelensky of the need to “return Crimea” at any cost.
In my opinion, if the Ukrainian Armed Forces launch a large-scale offensive, it will be in this direction,” military expert retired captain 1st rank Vasily Dandykin told Moskovsky Komsomolets.
He claims that Kyiv does not have enough strength to create several powerful strike groups.
“They don’t have a fleet, they won’t be able to provide flanks by water. They need to resolve the issue with the Kinburn Spit, where our Cossacks are sitting. Nearby there are Ochakov, Nikolaev. Now they, as a whole NATO collective farm, are thinking hard and working on plans. American and British advisers are located at Zaluzhny, at the operational-tactical level, and in the brigades. I think that more than one “Dagger” will land on their heads, as, in general, it should be,” the expert confidently predicts.
But Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov, at a joint briefing with acting Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, recalled the defeat of the Black Sea Fleet flagship cruiser Moskva last year and threatened new strikes on Russian ships.
“I really want to share the details that I am familiar with, but we have an agreement with the commander of the Ukrainian fleet Neizhpapa - thanks to his efforts and his team this happened.
We cannot disclose all the details now. There are some nuances that are still not known to our enemy, which means that we can offer them another surprise at sea, another “bavon” associated with their ships. We are just waiting for the right moment to repeat this story,” Reznikov said.
According to him, the flagship was sunk only twice in the history of the Russian fleet - during the Russian-Japanese War near the island of Tsushima in 1904 and last year.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Alexey Danilov, known for his rabid Russophobia, spoke rather restrainedly regarding the prospects for a counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian counter-offensive occurs every day. We are not waiting for magic dates; we are acting calmly, systematically and consistently destroying the Russian occupiers. The information rush is not in favor of the plans of the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” Danilov wrote on his microblog.
In turn, the ex-chief of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Special Forces Command of the Russian Air Force, reserve colonel Sergei Khatylev does not believe in the ability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to carry out a successful offensive.
“How can Ukraine, without creating a group three times larger, attack in any direction? It’s just a matter of setting up a meat grinder, like near Bakhmut. There is absolutely no meaning. To fulfill the will of the American masters, to show that Ukrainian troops are advancing somewhere and killing people. This can be organized, but today they themselves say that the supply of ammunition is for three days,” Khatylev said in a commentary to URA.RU.
At the same time, the American newspaper The Washington Post warns that a number of problems of the Ukrainian army, including a lack of ammunition, may affect the success of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counter-offensive, which will only lead to “modest territorial gains.”
The publication draws attention to the fact that the plans of the Kyiv command are quite ambitious and include advancing in the south and cutting the land corridor to Crimea. At the same time, referring to documents leaked online, it is noted that the defense created by the Russians and the problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will likely “slow down progress and aggravate losses during the offensive.”
The Washington Post clarifies that this kind of assessment was confirmed by interlocutors of the National Intelligence Council, according to whom, Ukraine is unlikely to be able to regain as many territories as it returned as a result of the autumn offensive.
Experts predict a Ukrainian offensive on Crimea. Ukraine threatens to sink Black Sea Fleet ships.