Ukraine is planning a spring counteroffensive in a bid to liberate Crimea with an intelligence chief warning Moscow: “We won’t stop.” As the first anniversary of the war ticked by on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to be planning to pour more troops into the country in an attempt to conquer his neighbour.
Speaking to the German newspaper Deutsche Welle, Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, said the key Black Sea peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, was at the forefront of his thinking.
Stressing that the counteroffensive was “to liberate all of the occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea”, he added: “We will only stop when we restore our country to its 1991 borders.”
One of the key aims was to “drive a wedge between Crimea and mainland Russia on Russia’s southern front”, Mr Skibitskyi said.
He also floated the possibility of striking military storage facilities on Russian territory.
Nevertheless, Mr Skibitskyi acknowledged the timing of the operation depended on several factors, not least the types of weapons provided by the West.
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