This city is strategically important for the Kremlin. Why?
A specialist of the US Institute of War Studies notes that do not rule out the possibility of starting an offensive on the city of Odesa, however, they do not have such an opportunity now, but it may appear. ISW analyst Nataliya Bugayova said in an interview with UP that such attempts may begin if the occupying forces are able to entrench themselves in the south.
“As for Odesa, yes, for them it is sacred, but they know how to overplay what is sacred for them and what is not. And from a military point of view, it seems to me that they have no chance to take Odesa now. There will be missile strikes that we we see. But it seems to me that it is premature to talk about Odessa now, until they have completed the Donbas. But their intentions have not changed. If they dig in in the south, there will be an attack on Odessa later.And Odesa will be one of their first goals – they need it not only for control over the south of Ukraine, control over the Black Sea, plus it is important for Moldova, for Transnistria,” she said.
According to Bugaiova, the liberation of Zmiiny Island was important from both a military and a moral and psychological point of view.
“The Russians are fixated on this island. I think you saw Dugin's expression that if someone controls Zmeinyi, they also control the course of history. They themselves have attached a lot of importance to it, and now they have to explain that it is a 'gesture of goodwill' – the analyst added.
Read also: In Odesa, four people were detained who photographed a warehouse after a missile attack
We will remind you that the Armed Forces of Ukraine knocked out the occupiers from Zmeiny on June 30. Later, the defenders said that destroyed a lot of Russian equipment on the island. OK “Pivden” also warns that, fleeing, the Russians could mine the area, the pier and the surrounding waters.
As the Armed Forces later explained , deoccupation of the island is important above all for the residents of the surrounding regions, in particular Odesa. Thanks to this, the threat of amphibious landings has decreased, and the occupiers will not be able to deploy shore-based anti-missile defense systems to increase the effectiveness of the use of these missiles on the territory of Ukraine in order to reduce the response of our air defense to them. The Russians are trying to create a humanitarian disaster in the Kharkiv region: they are destroying homes, burning wheat, shelling garbage dumps. Front group of Russian troops recruits prisoners and people from blacklists – British intelligence This could reduce the effectiveness of the group, which is not well liked in the army as a whole. The Ukrainian Armed Forces eliminated another one and a half hundred occupiers: the General Staff reported on the enemy's losses Yesterday, the most difficult for the Russians was in the direction of Bakhmut. It is not only Putin who is to blame for the atrocities of the war in Ukraine, but the entire Russian people – the head of the Polish Seimas Elzbieta Witek warned the Poles against possible forgetting about the war in Ukraine, because it will have consequences for Poland. Institute for the study of war in the USA: Putin is preparing children and teenagers for the war against Ukraine – from 8 to 18 years old When they can be involved – it is not known why for their training it takes a lot of time.
