Russians preparing for Ukrainian offensive and liberation of Crimea – intelligence
Explosions at the Russian air base in Novofedorivka, August 9 (Photo:REUTERS)
Russian invasion forces in Crimea are preparing for a Ukrainian army operation to liberate the Ukrainian peninsula, the Main Directorate of Intelligence or HUR of the Ukrainian military, reported on the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Telegram channel on Feb. 9.
The intelligence reports that the Russian occupation administration of Crimea and the local branch of the FSB have “established a high (yellow) level of terrorist danger.”
According to the document, a high level of threat is established in the settlements of Armyansk, Dzhankoy, Kerch, Krasnoperekopsk, as well as Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk and Leninsky (Yedikuy) regions of Crimea. These measures will reportedly last until further notice, the HUR reported.
In the invaders’ document, it is stated that the divisions of the Russian FSB in Crimea and the department of the occupation Ministry of Internal Affairs need to intensify monitoring of the movement of vehicles on the peninsula. Monitoring of the movement of Russian citizens and foreigners and the mandatory registration of temporary residence is being strengthened.
Units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were ordered to conduct an audit of special equipment for carrying out “rescue operations.”
Local “administrations” should provide places for “temporary accommodation of people.”
The Ministry of Health of the invaders is to establish “facilities for the provision of emergency care and medical evacuation.”
“Such ‘security measures’ by the invaders are a sign of preparation for the start of the operation to liberate Crimea by the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” the HUR said
“It may also indicate the possibility of provocations by the Russian special services against the civilian population of the peninsula, with subsequent blaming of Ukraine,” concluded the HUR.
The head of the HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, on Sept. 30 announced that the Ukrainian army would enter Crimea by the end of spring.
Then, in an interview with U.S. newspaper the Washington Post published on Jan. 31, Budanov said that “we must do everything so that Crimea returns home by the summer.”
On Feb. 2, U.S. news website Politico, citing four senior officials of the U.S. Department of Defense, reported that the Pentagon does not believe that Ukraine will be able to oust Russian troops from Crimea anytime soon.
At the end of January, the former commander of U.S. forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said that the fight for Crimea would become a key part of the war, and predicted that Ukraine would create the conditions for its final liberation in the next few months.
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