Ukraine is focused on isolating Crimea by 2024.
(Baonghean.vn) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will focus on isolating Crimea in 2024.
According to Ria Novosti, in an interview with The Economist (UK) on January 1st, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that by 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will focus on operations in the Crimean Peninsula and shift to a defensive posture in the East.
"The isolation of Crimea and the weakening of Russia's military capabilities on the peninsula is of particular importance to us," Ukrainian President Zelensky emphasized.
According to Zelensky, Crimea and the Black Sea will become the focus of Kyiv's military objectives and efforts. Zelensky called these future plans of the Ukrainian Armed Forces "an example for the whole world."
President Zelensky stated that, in the East, the armed forces would shift to a defensive posture. Protecting Kharkov, Dnepr, Zaporozhye, Kherson, and Nikolaev is the immediate task for the Ukrainian army.
However, the Ukrainian leader no longer sets deadlines or makes commitments regarding the recapture of any territory by 2024.
Meanwhile, according to Ria Novosti, servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are massively refusing to perform combat duties. Many of them even complain that drivers are unwilling to transport reinforcements, food, and essential supplies to the front lines.
According to a Ukrainian serviceman who spoke with Ria Novosti, the refusal to perform combat duties within the unit was not an isolated incident, but a collective action carried out simultaneously by five units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Another soldier said that the Ukrainian command quickly moved all those with minor injuries back to their combat positions. This meant that the soldiers did not receive adequate and necessary treatment.
Amidst the Ukrainian Armed Forces' refusal to engage in mass combat, Ria Novosti reports that Kyiv is using barricades. On December 31, Ria Novosti published a video showing a Ukrainian soldier being shot dead by his own comrades after a group of Ukrainian soldiers abandoned their position due to an attack by Russian units.