By May 9, Russia wants to push back Ukrainian Armed Forces from East and keep "land corridor" to Crimea. This should be presented as "victory," - Defense Ministry
The enemy's goal is to push Ukrainian forces beyond the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by May 9 and keep the "land corridor" to the temporarily occupied Crimea.
According to Censor.NЕТ, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
"Now their goal is quite clear: to push the Ukrainian forces behind the administrative borders of Donetchina and Luhansk region and to keep the "land corridor" to the temporarily occupied Crimea. It is this kind of 'victory' that their government will try to 'sell' to their society," Motuzianyk said.
According to him, Russia will not stop there.
"It is quite obvious that in the future they will try to develop the offensive in other areas as well, in particular in the Kherson region, in order to capture as much territory as possible. Now the enemy is preparing for this, gathering forces and consolidating in the areas they have already occupied. But it will depend on the results of combat" actions exactly in Donetsk and Lugansk regions", - said Motuzyanik.
The speaker of the Defense Ministry emphasized that the Russian invaders will try to encircle the Ukrainian military grouping.
"This is such a tactic of the Russian army - complete or partial encirclement of units in the main directions, restraining forces, blocking possible logistical support routes and subsequent defeat. They like to report on the formation of so-called "cauldrons." Our task is to prevent this," said Motuzyanyk.
The representative of the Defense Ministry recalled that in the last few days the Russians have intensified offensives in the East of the state, the number of missile strikes and artillery shelling has increased actually along the entire battle line. Therefore, according to him, we can say that the decisive battle for Donbass and Luhansk Region has begun.
"Actually, a large Russian army offensive in Eastern Ukraine was bound to take place sooner or later. But here it is important to understand that our Ukrainian cities and towns in the East of the state are large and small fortresses that are now bravely holding their ground and preventing the enemy from seizing all of our territory. That is why the battle in Donbas is, without exaggeration, the decisive battle for Ukraine," Motuzyanyk underlined.
