Ukrainian militias have set fire to Russia’s rear in Crimea and the war takes an unexpected turn

After several weeks of stalemate in the war, the Ukrainian army he turned the campaign upside down with several acts of sabotage in the Donbasthe eastern corridor and the adjoining Crimean peninsula to the south, which left the Russian enemy unanswered.

The most significant was the case of Crimea, the peninsula annexed in 2014 to Moscow and where it has several bases. Since the beginning of the invasion, last February, this was hostile territory for Ukrainian troops and in fact the units that conquered part of the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia came from the peninsula.

Last week, nine Russian warplanes, according to satellite images, were destroyed in a mysterious attack by Ukrainian “partisans”, Kiev admitted. There is also talk of about 60 deaths, including pilots and technicians.

Tuesday was the turn of an arsenal of fuel and ammunition, an attack that forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Yesterday there were attacks on the Crimean bridge, the engineering work that broke the isolation of the territory and connected the peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“The logistics”

“This is an illegal construction and is the main supply port for the Russian army in the Crimea. These infrastructures must be destroyed ”, explained Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski.

“Our strategy is to destroy the logistics, supply lines, ammunition depots and other military infrastructure. This causes chaos in the Russian ranks, “Podoliak said, referring to special units operating in Russian-controlled territory.

Last week’s sabotage caused panic among tourists visiting Crimea who began to leave the peninsula in a hurry. “The queue these days to leave Crimea for Russia over the bridge shows that the vast majority of citizens of the terrorist state already understand, or at least hear, that Crimea is no place for them”Stressed President Zelensky.

For analyst Oliver Alexander, these attacks, which he believes it may have been carried out with ballistic missiles, are sapping Russian morale and raising the spirits of the Ukrainian side. “Crimea had been a relatively safe place in recent months, but that’s not the case anymore. This has increased the pressure on the Russians, ”he explains.

In trouble

Russia is in a complex situation right now. It does not find much way into Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk region and, due to Ukrainian sabotage, cannot guarantee the safety of its arsenals and supply chains in Crimea.

Experts at Washington’s The Institute for the Study of War think tank believe last week’s attacks are part of it “A coherent Ukrainian counter-offensive”, which allows them to cut supply lines along the Dnieper River.

From the first hours of the invasion, Russia used the peninsula to penetrate southern Ukraine and capture Kherson, the largest Ukrainian city in its hands. This also allowed Russian forces to create a land corridor between southern and eastern Ukraine, controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

As the war progresses, many Ukrainians they find no solace in repelling Russian troops to their positions before February 24 and now claim to recapture Crimea. “Most citizens of the terrorist state (Russia) are starting to understand that Crimea is no place for them,” said President Zelensky, challenging the Kremlin.

Source: AFP, AP and EFE

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