Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that it had cut off Ukraine’s access to the Sea of Azov after routine troops sent to Donetsk joined forces with Russian troops advancing in the Crimea from the south. Interfox.
Russian tanksPhoto: EyePress News / Profimedia Images
The announcement was made by Moscow Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Tuesday afternoon, who said that “the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic have reached the border of the Donetsk region and are operating in conjunction with the Russian military units operating on the coast of the Azov Sea.”
Konashenkov had announced the previous day that the siege of the port city of Mariupol was over by advancing forces from the separatist region of Donetsk. Mariupol, a city of about 500,000 people, is located on the north coast of the Sea of Azov, one of the largest trading ports in Ukraine.
Subject to Mariupol Severe bombing On Tuesday, the mayor announced that attacks were being carried out targeting civilians and targeting victims, including women and children.
Direction of the attack by Russian troops on Ukraine (Photo: Novaya Gazeta)
Meeting between separatists in eastern Ukraine and Crimean forces, one of Russia’s strategic objectives
If the information not yet confirmed by the Ukrainian side turns out to be true, it means that Russia has achieved its first strategic goal. The invasion began last Thursday.
This announcement has been made in the context of the information available Russian President Vladimir Putin’s growing frustration Compared to the defeat of his army in Ukraine, which failed to achieve any of the main objectives set in the first days of the invasion.
In the months leading up to the invasion, Analysts have predicted After Russia launched in November last year To massage the back forces On its border with Ukraine and In Belarus One of the aims of the possible attack was to achieve a confrontation between the separatist areas of eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
All the resources needed by the people of the Crimea, including drinking water, should be carried on a bridge over the Kerch Strait. Completed in 2018The peninsula was completely isolated from Russia.
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