Minister Reznikov: We will take Crimea "without a fight"

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, as cited by The Atlantic in the article named ‘The Counteroffensive’, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to The Atlantic, knowing that Crimea is being built into a fortress, the Ukrainians talk about the ‘political military’ liberation of Crimea, not a purely military counteroffensive.

Once Ukrainian forces have cut off the roads, railroads, and waterways to the peninsula, and targeted the military infrastructure with drones, the presumption is that many Russian inhabitants, especially recent immigrants, will become convinced that they would be better off living somewhere else. Some have reportedly fled already, following an explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge and other explosions on the peninsula, the article reads.

“Crimea we will take without a fight,” Reznikov told in a commentary to The Atlantic.

Moreover, detailed plans for Crimea’s de-occupation already exist. Together with an expert team, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Tamila Tasheva has been working on a 'Crimea Recovery Strategy' that envisions a greener, cleaner Crimea, a “modern European resort.”

At the same time, Tasheva pushes back against any idea that Russia and Ukraine could share the peninsula. In her words, there cannot be “joint control by both David and Goliath.”