If Russia doesn't voluntarily leave Crimea, there will be violence
Oleksii Mazepa, the former press officer of the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, an officer with the Department of Civil-Military Cooperation, who lived and served Ukraine in Crimea for 16 years before the Russian invasion, has shared his vision of how to liberate the temporarily Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula
A conversation with him on August 13, 2022, was published by the Crimea Realii project.
"I consider myself a Crimean. And I, together with my family, will definitely return to Crimea after our victory", the soldier said.
"We will return to Crimea. To those who decided to become collaborators and support the enemy, as well as fight on his side, I can say that everyone will find the punishment they deserve", the officer assured.
At the same time, he did not rule out fighting on the peninsula.
"Crimea must be liberated by the means that will be available to us at that time. Today, military operations are actually taking place on the entire territory of Ukraine. Therefore, if necessary, they can move to the territory of Crimea as part of Ukraine. If the Russian occupiers do not lay down their arms and do not leave the territory of Crimea, if combat operations are needed to liberate it, then, in my opinion, they will be", the officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces explained.
Ukraine's victory, according to Oleksii Mazepa, will be the liberation of all of Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as Crimea.
He will also consider Ukraine's victory over Russia to be the return of all Ukrainian prisoners of war and political prisoners held in Russia, the conviction of the perpetrators of the attack on Ukraine by an international tribunal, and "the creation of conditions so that such aggression and war are impossible in the future".
Oleksii Mazepa doesn't disclose his functions, tasks, and place of service at the moment.
- News