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| OLEKSANDR KLYMENKO/REUTERS |
Strike is latest aiming to soften up Russian forces along a land corridor to occupied Crimea
Ukraine hit a Russian military base in the occupied south, officials said, the latest in a series of strikes to target a key Russian supply route to Crimea as Kyiv is gearing up for a spring offensive.
The exiled mayor of the southern city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said Ukraine had struck the base in the nearby town of Vesele.
The strike, which he said took place late Thursday, is the latest in a growing campaign by Ukrainian forces to weaken Russia’s hold in the south. In the past week, there were explosions in the vicinity of a train depot and a military airstrip, and a Russian-installed official was seriously wounded in an apparent car bomb attack in the city.
“The second week in a row is hellish for the occupiers of Melitopol region,” Mr. Fedorov said on social media Friday.
Russia has been sending military personnel and vehicles there for several days after turning off internet and cellphone connections in the town to prevent locals from informing Ukrainian authorities about their movements, said Mr. Fedorov. “But they couldn’t hide it,” he said.
Russian forces seized Melitopol in the early days of the invasion last year, a major city on a key strip of land along Ukraine’s southern coast that connects mainland Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian forces occupied in 2014. Crimea provided the Russians with a critical launchpad for their invasion of Ukraine from the south, but it is vulnerable due to its limited connections with mainland Russia. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Rosavtodor Press Service via AP, File |
A top Ukrainian official on Sunday outlined a series of steps the government in Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, published the plan as Ukraine’s military prepares for a spring counteroffensive in hopes of making new, decisive gains after more than 13 months of war to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but most of the world does not recognize it as Russian territory. The peninsula’s future status will be a key feature in any negotiations on ending the current fighting.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and acknowledge other land gains made by Moscow as a condition for peace. Kyiv has ruled out any peace talks with Moscow until Russian troops leave all occupied territories, including Crimea.
Danilov suggested prosecuting Ukrainians who worked for the Moscow-appointed administration in Crimea, adding that some would face criminal charges and others would lose government pensions and be banned from public jobs. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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