Russian landing ship damaged after Ukrainian airstrike on December 26, 2023 (Photo: Pravda).
"In 2023, the first Ukrainian incursions into Crimea took place. This is just the beginning," Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence, said in an interview with French daily Le Monde on January 12.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
“Russia had to move everything in a hurry to the southeast,” said General Budanov, adding that Moscow was trying to establish a Black Sea naval base in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia.
Mr Budanov admitted that the front line had largely frozen in Ukraine.
"The high intensity of drone attacks has made it impossible for both Russia and Ukraine to carry out attacks. Another factor is the minefields with a density not seen since World War II," the Ukrainian general said.
Mr Budanov said the resilience of the Russian economy had surprised him and that current Western sanctions were not enough to force Moscow to change course.
"Something about Russia's paradox surprises me. Everyone thinks that Russia has a strong army and a weak economy. It turns out that the opposite is true," said General Budanov.
"The Russian economy may be weak, but it is not hungry. At this rate, it can even hold out for quite a while," the Ukrainian official said, adding that the sanctions would target Russia's main economic sectors and the entire financial system.
Signs of fatigue with the war in Ukraine may be growing, but General Budanov called on the West to continue providing military support to Kiev. He said this was not the right time to negotiate with Russia.
"Negotiations begin when one or both sides have interests. Now is not the time for that," General Budanov stressed.
The Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea region have been repeatedly targeted in recent days. According to the Russian Defense Ministry , a series of Ukrainian drones, missiles and suicide boats were intercepted while trying to attack Crimea.
In late December last year, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that a Ukrainian missile attack damaged the Russian Navy's large landing ship Novocherkassk while it was anchored at the port in the city of Feodosia, Crimea.
Ukrainian sources confirm that the attacks on Crimea, specifically on Russian naval bases and ships of the Black Sea Fleet, are an integral part of Kiev’s counteroffensive. Kiev’s goal is to isolate the peninsula, making it difficult for Russia to maintain military operations on the Ukrainian mainland.
Russia has its own calculations in trying to control the Black Sea. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the blockade of the Sea of Azov have both helped to limit Ukraine’s naval access and choke off its maritime exports.
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