American General Ben Hodges is confident that Ukraine will be able to liberate Crimea in the summer of 2023. Hodges' forecast coincides with the version of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov.
This was told by military expert Oleg Zhdanov in a stream on his YouTube channel, informs Channel 24. He recalled that Budanov also expressed the thesis that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be able to return Crimea in the summer of 2023.
According to Zhdanov, the former commander of the US Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, notes the role of the occupied peninsula in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Crimea becomes task number 1. Not even Donbass, but Crimea. After all, with the liberation of Crimea, everything else loses its meaning, and the entire defense of Russia will simply fall in one moment, the military expert emphasized.
According to him, the invaders will only have to hope that they will have time to escape from our territory. But the Ukrainian military will try to prevent this.
Goal number 1 for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Zhdanov quoted Ben Hodges, who believes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine should take Crimea by all possible means and start destroying the logistics of the occupiers on the territory of the occupied peninsula.
In particular, it is necessary not only to prevent the restoration of the Kerch bridge, but to finish it off to the end in order to stop any movement on this bridge. This will be goal number 1, – said the military expert.
He added that it is necessary to turn Crimea into a real peninsula. The point is that after the destruction of the Crimean bridge, in fact, the only way to Crimea will run through the territory of Ukraine.
Oleg Zhdanov spoke about the scenario for the end of the war with Russia: watch the video
Crimea will become a trap for Russians
Zhdanov noted that the ferry connection with Russia can be ignored, since it will not provide such volumes of supplies that the occupiers need.
“Moreover, the ferry can also be attacked with missiles and stop its operation on the territory of the peninsula “, – said the military expert.
When Crimea is cut off from virtually all supply routes, then, according to Zhdanov, the peninsula will become a trap for Russian infidels.
The liberation of Crimea is the key to ending the war
Further, according to the military expert, the Ukrainian military should methodically strike at enemy military facilities in Crimea, in particular:
- storage bases,
- military units,
- airfields,
- Russian air defense system.
Zhdanov noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to hit enemy targets with the involvement of Western aircraft. He added that by the summer Ukraine will have a sufficient number of aircraft, as well as short and medium-range missiles.
And then you can enter the Crimea with the main forces of the ground forces. This will be the key to ending the war,” Zhdanov emphasized.
The military expert noted that after we liberate Crimea, Russia will no longer need Donbass.
Situation in Crimea: brief
- The invaders in Crimea are in a rather depressed state. Even the Russians themselves do not believe that their army is capable of achieving significant success in the war against Ukraine.
- Among the personnel of the units that the aggressor is concentrating on the territory of Crimea, rumors are spreading that they will have to urgently flee from the peninsula to save of their lives.
- At the end of January, the Office of the President announced that the time for the peaceful liberation of the peninsula had already expired.
- Advisor to the head of the Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak noted that the terrorist country did not have the resources to keep Crimea , and the invaders have the strength to fight until the spring of this year. Podolyak noted that we will definitely return the peninsula.
