Ukraine's defence intelligence chief says attacks on Russian ships are in preparation for Crimea operation

Ukraine has undertaken successful attacks on Russian military ships and other Black Sea targets in preparation for a "major operation in Crimea".

Source: Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, in the War for the Sea: from Dnipro to Crimea documentary

Quote from Budanov: "All this was in preparation for a major operation in Crimea. A way of checking that our understanding of ways to get in and out of there is correct. It’s also good for the people who have spent 10 years under [Russian] occupation.

Many of them think that they have been forgotten and abandoned. Not everyone is as happy about it as it seems. There are people who love Ukraine but think that they have been betrayed. There are a lot of people like that."

Read more: Target and eliminate: How Ukraine's Magura drones devastate Russian ships

Background:

• The Russian Project 22160 patrol ship Sergei Kotov was hit in a strike by Ukrainian naval drones on the night of 5 March.
• The Department of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Ukrainian forces have disabled approximately 33% of all combat ships in the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the start of the full-scale invasion.

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