Ukraine will be able to liberate Crimea by Christmas only if it has certain resources - military expert

He expressed his opinion on Espreso TV. 

"Ukrainian society is now very hot on the topic of de-occupation of Crimea. In May of this year, the statements of General Budanov and Ben Hodges were repeatedly discussed. They said that by the end of August the Ukrainian Armed Forces would enter Crimea. Judging by the situation, unfortunately, this will not happen. It is unlikely that the Ukrainian army will be able to enter the territory of Crimea by the end of this summer," Selezniov said.

The expert emphasized that in order to liberate the occupied Crimea, the Ukrainian army should be reinforced with Western fighters and long-range missiles.

"We will not be able to liberate Crimea by the end of this summer. We lack the means to do so. In particular, F-16 fighters and long-range Atacms missiles. With these means, we would be able to destroy the Crimean bridge, and then gradually destroy all military facilities of the occupying Russian army. The same applies to statements about the liberation of Crimea by Christmas. After all, I want to emphasize that our progress directly depends on the forces and means. When we have the means to de-occupy Crimea, the situation will change," he added.

• On October 8, an explosion and fire broke out on the Crimean bridge, the occupation authorities reported deaths and accused Ukraine of the explosion.

• On July 26, the SBU confirmed for the first time its involvement in the 2022 attack on the Crimean bridge.

• On July 30, the Express reported that a group of 2,000 elite Ukrainian soldiers is training in the UK to become the frontline force and recapture Crimea by Christmas.