Crimean occupiers are starting to panic, president’s permanent rep to Crimea says
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was met in Sevastopol without celebrations (Photo:Sputnik/Russian Presidential Press Office/Kremlin via REUTERS)
Russian occupiers in Crimea are beginning to panic, Tamila Tasheva, the Ukrainian President’s Permanent Representative in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea said in an interview with Radio NV on March 24.
“Occupation administrations are very concerned, the military is already digging trenches practically along the entire coast of the Crimea peninsula, or they are digging trenches on the Kerch peninsula, at the isthmus,” said Tasheva.
“They are really starting to panic, they are very afraid of the Ukrainian advance into the territory of Crimea, and are trying to partially prepare places for shelter, in particular bomb shelters. And they started doing this after pressure from the local population in Crimea.”
Tasheva observed that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s visit to the occupied peninsula took place without any grand ceremonies or large musical performances.
“I don’t think that this somehow reassured the local residents, everyone understands everything perfectly,” she said.
“Crimea is maximally involved in the war, it is one big military base, so everyone understands this perfectly and begins to gradually leave the territory of the peninsula.”
In particular, she noted, Russians who live illegally in Crimea and representatives of the so-called “law enforcement agencies” are trying to evacuate their families from the cities of Dzhankoy and Krasnoperekopsk.
Russian occupiers began constructing fortifications in remote areas of Crimea on March 24, said Denys Chystikov, the Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea.
He added there is a significant presence of Russian military personnel on the peninsula.
The Kremlin uses occupied Crimea as a location to rotate personnel returning from the combat zone, he said, noting that they continue to bring mobilized people there, although fewer than before.
Ukrainian authorities began to make public statements about liberating Crimea in autumn 2022. Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff reported that the invaders were enhancing their fortification equipment along defensive lines on the left bank of the Dnipro River and in the northern region of the occupied Crimea.
The Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate announced that the Russian occupiers had deployed an additional 15,000 troops to the peninsula in October-November 2022, bringing the total number to around 80,000.
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