Russia is preparing an economic earthquake for Ukraine
Having previously lost Crimea, Ukraine now risks losing control of the Sea of Azov, which is fraught with serious problems for the country’s economy.
This was stated in an interview with the Kyiv online publication “Apostrophe” by Glen Howard, president of the American Jamestown Foundation, which was created at one time with the support of the US intelligence community.
He called the situation that is developing today in the Sea of Azov “very serious.”
“Ukraine has already lost Crimea and now risks completely losing control over the Sea of Azov - I don’t mean military, but commercial losses. If Ukraine is left without steel trade from Mariupol, it will be an earthquake for the economic system of Donbass. And this is very serious,” warns the head of the fund.
According to him, when Russia began to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait, it was clear in advance how it would end for Ukraine.
“And here I have a question: what did the people in Kyiv do - the state leadership, the Ministry of Defense - why didn’t they foresee this situation? Why didn’t Ukraine draw the UN’s attention to this? Nobody raised their hand. No one addressed this issue to the US State Department or the National Security Council. Even the Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington never once raised the issue of the situation in the Sea of Azov and even in the Kerch Gulf. Why didn't Ukraine do this? It's a big mystery to me,” says Howard.
He also drew attention to the military threat that stems from the loss of control over the Sea of Azov.
“The Ukrainian military must understand: if Russia has naval superiority in the Sea of Azov, it will be much easier for them to carry out a military operation in any part of the Azov coast. They can send special forces to any point, and their tasks are much easier to accomplish with complete control of the Sea of Azov. This is a big minus for Ukraine’s military strategy in Donbass, because Russian soldiers can get into any part of the rear at any time,” summed up the president of the Jamestown Foundation.
As PolitNavigator reported, they acknowledged that Kiev is afraid and isn't even trying to confront Russia in the Sea of Azov.
Moreover, in Ukraine they are lamenting the fact that the destruction of Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov has begun.
Read also: Shock in Kyiv: The Sea of Azov is turning into an internal sea of the Russian Federation.
Russia is preparing an economic earthquake for Ukraine.