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Ukraine war
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Ukraine preparing offensive on Crimea, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet: official

  • Ukraine’s deputy defence minister reveals plans for attack on Russian-held Crimea and getting ‘anti-ship capabilities’
  • Ukrainian goal is to liberate Russian-occupied territories including Crimea in 2022, ambassador in Japan says

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The Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea in 2020. In the background is the Moskva warship, which sank earlier this year. File photo: Reuters
Agencies

Ukraine is preparing to launch an offensive on the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed there, according to Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Volodymyr Havrylov.

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“We are receiving anti-ship capabilities and sooner or later we will target the fleet,” Havrylov said in an interview with The Times newspaper in London. “Russia will have to leave Crimea if they wish to exist as a country.”

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24. Moscow previously invaded Ukraine in 2014 and seized the Crimea region.

Crimea is of particular strategic importance to Russia as it includes the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol. Another prized target for Ukraine would be the 18km (11-mile) bridge that links the Black Sea peninsula with mainland Russia.
Havrylov said that the recapture of the Snake Island, occupied by Moscow early in the invasion, was a first step. “We are ready to target them all over the Black Sea if we have that capability,” he said.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacted by saying that Havrylov’s remarks confirmed the necessity of the “special military operation”, as the war is officially called in Russia and which aims, among other things, to “denazify” and “demilitarise” Ukraine.

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