"No one will stop me": Zaluzhnyi vows to liberate Crimea at the first opportunity

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi is confident that the Ukrainian army will liberate Crimea, which was seized by Russia. If the Defence Forces have the necessary means to do so, the process of de-occupation of the peninsula will be inevitable.

The general said this in an interview with The Washington Post published on Friday, 14 July. The military leader assured that no one would stop him.

"As soon as I have the funds, I will do something. I don't care - no one will stop me," Zaluzhnyi said.

The newspaper noted that the statement by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces came amid concerns among some Western officials about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's reaction if Ukrainian defenders were able to begin liberating the peninsula.

"Zaluzhnyi is not shy about his intentions to retake Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, even as some Western officials privately worry about what Putin's reaction would be if Ukrainian troops moved closer to the territory," the article says.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the purpose of the Armed Forces' counter-offensive was to get closer to the administrative border of the temporarily occupied Crimea. Then Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will be so obviously weakened that he will be forced to look for ways to resume negotiations.

Moreover, Moscow's diplomatic course will be aimed not only at the Ukrainian side, but also at the entire civilised world.

Earlier, Denys Chystykov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said that the aggressor country Russia had begun to actively prepare for the defence of the occupied peninsula. The territory itself is used for various military purposes. Currently, fortifications are being built there on an intensive basis.

According to him, since the beginning of the occupation, the number of military personnel in Crimea has tripled.

And the Atesh guerrillas reported that the occupiers in Crimea, expecting a counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army, are trying to save the Crimean bridge from Storm Shadow with the help of corner reflectors. Experts from the capital of the terrorist country came to install the Russian know-how.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, military expert, retired colonel Petro Chernyk said that the liberation of the temporarily occupied Crimea would not be achieved by storming and frontal attacks. The Armed Forces of Ukraine can accomplish this task by using the tactics of depletion of the enemy.

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