Kyiv [Ukraine], April 4: Senior officials from Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) revealed a plan for a third attack on the Kerch bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia, according to The Guardian newspaper on April 3.
HUR officials believe that the Kerch bridge can soon be disabled . "We will do it in the first half of 2024," an official told The Guardian . The official added that HUR Director Kyrylo Budanov had "most of the means to realize this goal". Mr. Budanov is implementing a plan approved by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "reduce" the presence of the Russian navy in the Black Sea, according to the Ukrainian official.
Ukraine previously targeted the Kerch Bridge twice in 2022 and 2023, leaving the bridge partially damaged and repaired. If this bridge is permanently damaged, Ukrainian officials believe that Moscow will be forced to transport military supplies by road through the Russian-controlled southern region of Ukraine, and this situation will significantly weaken the bridge. Russia's offensive capabilities at a time when its ground forces are advancing.
HUR Deputy Director Vadym Skybytskyi assessed that Ukrainian forces are currently unable to win on the battlefield, due to Russia's military superiority and the Ukrainian side's lack of artillery shells and fighter aircraft. Therefore, Mr. Skybytskyi said that Kyiv "has no other choice" but to attack targets deep behind enemy lines, including military infrastructure, command and control centers as well as industrial production sites that manufacture "weapons and ammunition".
In addition, Brigadier General Dmytro Timkov, HUR's top security official, compared Ukraine's current situation to a patient on life support, in desperate need of additional support. "We are on an infusion. We have enough medicine to survive. But if the West wants us to win, we need adequate treatment. Otherwise we will die," The Guardian quoted Mr. Timkov.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
