Ukrainian colonel explains what is needed to liberate Crimea

He expressed this opinion in the Verdict with Serhii Rudenko program on Espreso TV. 

"In order for Russia to make a 'goodwill gesture' in Crimea, circumstances must be right. And the circumstances must be created militarily. There is a political Putin component in Crimea. Crimea is very important to them. We can compare this to the de-occupation of Kherson. Kherson and Crimea have two important components that affect the political and military de-occupation," Kostenko said.

According to the SBU colonel, de-occupation of Crimea is impossible without the liberation of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

"Crimea is important to Putin. As a result of the occupation of Crimea, Putin stayed in power and gained popularity. He was able to oppose himself to the world, to show that he was returning the land. Kherson was also very important to Putin. Because after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kherson was the only regional center that Russia managed to capture. And it was the only thing that could be politically presented. The right-bank area was also important to Putin. This is an advance on Mykolaiv, Odesa, Moldova, cutting off the Black Sea. But Ukraine did not allow this to happen," Kostenko emphasized.

Kostenko added that by liberating Kherson, the Ukrainian Armed Forces made Russia forget political slogans.

"When they fled Kherson, they began to consider only the military component. If we do something similar in Crimea, we will break the Crimean bridge, ban shipping in the Black Sea with the help of drones, destroy control points and storage warehouses. When Crimea becomes an island, then the Russians will think about whether it makes sense to defend Crimea and how to do it," Kostenko emphasized.

• Recently, the Russian forces have begun to transport equipment by cargo ships through the Kerch Strait more often.

• The UK Defense Ministry reports that the naval and air forces of Ukraine and Russia are fighting for strategically important gas and oil platforms in the Black Sea between Crimea and Odesa.

• On Monday, August 28, the Russian Defense Ministry said that two Ukrainian drones were allegedly shot down by air defense over the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea.