Crimea becomes a deadly trap for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - The Economist

The Russian offensive in the north of the Kharkiv region seems to have lost its power. A number of allies of Ukraine lifted the ban on their weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation. To understand what effect Ukraine can achieve, if there are no bans at all, you can look at the Crimea. Former US Forces Commander in Europe, General Ben Hodges believes that the peninsula is systematically unusable for Russian troops. The result would be a big reward for Ukraine.

In recent years, Crimea has been the basis for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which is connected by the Crimean bridge. It was based on logistics centers, air base and the Black Sea Fleet. All this was a significant threat to the south of Ukraine. The Kremlin has invested huge funds to build military infrastructure in Crimea, but now it is at risk.

The British Strategist Sir Lawrence Friedman believes that landing in the Crimea for the de -occupation of the peninsula is still unthinkable because it is a wrong look. Crimea is a weak place for the Russian Federation. The occupiers have too many objects that need protection other than the peninsula. Therefore, Ukraine can use Crimea as a real pressure on Putin to achieve a joint in the future.

The purpose of Ukraine may be to push Russian air and naval forces from the south to stifle the peninsula as a logistics center. For this purpose, the winged Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles and their own weapons were used for shocks on ships and military objects. The sea drones failed almost half of the once menacing Black Sea Fleet. Now almost everything is relocated to Novorossiysk, but it is also attacked by defense forces. On May 17, a railway station, a power plant and a naval base were attacked.

The combination with the use of ATACMS and deadly drones allows to systematically worsen the Russian air defense in the Crimea, as well as to beat on critical objects. Lawrence also says that the air defense strikes are part of the F-16 preparation. On April 17, as a result of ATACMS, Dzhankoy Air Base was damaged by helicopters, C-400 battery and control. A month later, on May 15, Belbeck's large-scale ATACMS stroke destroyed four aircraft, as well as the C-400 radar and at least two launchers.

The attack, which included about ten missiles, each of which carried 300 sub-dumplings, caused mass fires, which were probably caused by the explosion of fuel composition and stored missiles of the air-air-air class. The next day, Ukraine hit the ATACMS on Belbeck again. This may indicate that the Armed Forces have more than or about 100 ATACMS missiles. Initially, drones are launched, which force the C-400 ZRK to illuminate.

The radar coordinates are immediately transmitted to Himars crews, which in six minutes produce ATACMS. General Hodges says that the Russian troops "have nowhere to hide. " Thanks to satellite and air intelligence, provided by NATO allies and their own deep knowledge of the territory and hidden forces on Earth, nothing can move in Crimea without the knowledge of Ukrainians. With the advent of ATACMS and the improvement of its own UAVs, each square meter of the peninsula is in the area.