South should be priority direction for liberation of Ukraine — military expert Musienko

Oleksandr Musienko, director of the military-legal research center, expressed his opinion live on air of Espreso TV channel.

"It is necessary to resolve the issue step by step. First, we need to de-occupy the left bank of the Kherson region, the entire Zaporizhzhia region and the Donetsk region. We must fully control exits to the seas, and break up the land corridor to Crimea. Close all Russian troops in occupied Crimea in order to be able to conduct artillery strikes and control above them," Musienko explained.

According to the military expert, after the liberation of the South, operations to liberate Crimea should be planned.

"Either exclusively by military means or by military-diplomatic means. Much will depend on how quickly we will be able to de-occupy the South in the course of events at the front. The priority direction for the liberation of Ukraine should be the South, and then the issue of Crimea, the issue of access to the borders of the East. If we receive the necessary weapons and support, the liberation of the borders of 1991 will be closer to reality," Musienko added.

• On January 2, 2023, Natalia Humeniuk, head of the Security and Defense Forces press center of South operational command, reported that Russian troops bring untrained mobilization resources to the left bank of the Dnipro river.

• Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryushchenko, emphasized that recently mobilized Russians arrived in Urzuf village near Mariupol and delivered old tanks there.