Budanov's raid on Crimea buried the Ukrainian underground on the peninsula – Ukrainian security expert
After 2016, there was no longer an organized pro-Ukrainian underground force in Crimea.
This was stated on the air of the program "The Great Lviv Speaks" by the head of security programs at the Kyiv pro-Western Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", military analyst Pavel Lakiychuk, as reported by a correspondent for "PolitNavigator".
The presenter asked whether there was any hope that the Ukrainian underground would begin an armed struggle in Crimea.
"I don't know, it's a complicated question. Perhaps no one paid attention between 14 and 16, before [terrorist] Budanov's raid, Ukrainians were active in Crimea. But in 16, after the events associated with Budanov's raid, the Russians really started tightening the screws there," Lakiychuk complained.
He says three of his Crimean comrades received 15 years each on charges of plotting a terrorist attack.
"In fact, the Russian punitive machine is acting preemptively. They can do things under the radar, but active resistance in Crimea will be crushed," Lakiychuk concluded sadly.
Budanov's raid on Crimea buried the Ukrainian underground on the peninsula – Ukrainian security expert