Budanov: Strike on Russia’s 126th Guards Brigade temporarily exposes western Crimea section

The destruction of the 126th Separate Guards Coastal Defense Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation temporarily exposed the section of the western coast of Crimea, so the Russian command is forced to take urgent measures and redeploy air defense systems from other areas of the front.

"This division, as of now, has stopped its work. Yes, they will restore it, replace systems, change the system, but it is deactivated," Head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with RFE/RL’s Crimea. Realities project.

He refused to reveal the details of the special operation and noted that it would expose a section of the western coast of Crimea for a while.

When asked to what extent the strikes on Crimea changed the enemy logistics on the peninsula, Budanov said: "Not much. They will not greatly change the logistics, but they significantly complicate the activities of the entire grouping and, let's say, the Crimean defense system itself. When it comes to the air defense system and missile depots, the first priority is air defense missiles, yes, they will take quick measures. But an air defense system is not the kind of thing that is lying around, they even cannot protect Moscow because they redeployed everything to the front. And here it is necessary to take the systems now. It is an erroneous opinion that Russia's warehouses are full of such systems. In order to patch this hole, now they will deliver missile systems there from somewhere."

As reported, the Main Directorate of Intelligence confirmed the strike on the 126th Separate Guards Coastal Defense Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea. This is a joint special operation of the military counter-intelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.