Former NATO commander calls on Ukraine to attack Crimea
(Baonghean.vn) - Former NATO Supreme Commander in Europe Philip Breedlove has argued that the West needs to provide Ukraine with weapons that it can use to intensify attacks on Crimea.
According to the American general, increasing pressure on the Crimean Peninsula, where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based, will force Moscow to "rethink its posture there".
The predominantly Russian-speaking region voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in a 2014 referendum following the Maidan coup. “If we allow Ukraine to attack Crimea — deeply, repeatedly and precisely — Russia will be forced to rethink its posture there,” Breedlove said in an editorial in The Hill on January 18.
“Go all out, go in, go in deep,” the retired general advised. Breedlove’s colleague Ben Hodges, who served as commanding general of the US Army in Europe, agreed that the peninsula represented “the decisive terrain of the war.”
Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed that despite the failure of the summer offensive, achieving Ukraine’s 1991 border remains a “strategic goal.” That means retaking Crimea, the port city of Sevastopol and several other areas now under Russian control.
In an interview with the Economist earlier this month, Ukrainian President Zelensky described the isolation of Crimea as an “extremely important” goal. He expressed confidence that the Ukrainian armed forces would achieve it by 2024. The head of state also revealed that Kiev would focus specifically on the Kerch Bridge, which would connect Crimea to mainland Russia. As a result, President Zelensky has once again asked Germany to provide long-range Taurus cruise missiles, a weapon that Berlin has so far refused to provide.
In recent months, Ukraine has launched dozens of attacks on the Crimean peninsula, using sea and air drones as well as various types of missiles.
In early January, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that its air defense systems had intercepted 36 Ukrainian drones as well as 10 missiles flying over Crimea, including some 'Storm Shadows' missiles provided by the UK./.
