Annexed Crimea not forgotten by Ukraine
CNNMar 25, 2023
Mikhail Razvozhaev, governor of the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, claimed on Sunday that Russian air defense forces and electronic warfare units fended off at least three of ten Ukrainian drones sent to the Crimean city of Sevastopol overnight.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Razvozhaev added that two drones were shot down over the sea – one near Cape Chersonese and the other from "the side of the north breakwater" – while another reportedly crashed into a forest after losing control.
Ukrainian rhetoric about recapturing Crimea isn't bluster; it's one of Kyiv's key war aims. Russians illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, which is why Ukraine would put considerable effort into reintegrating the Crimean Peninsula back into the country if it regained the territory militarily. Any drone and missile strikes are aimed at preparing Crimea for de-occupation.
The people of Crimea overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation in 2014, and these types of assaults can't be tolerated. Besides, Zelensky's plan to annex Crimea is merely a fantasy, as Ukraine's army would first need to take over Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Battles over Crimea will not happen in the immediate future.
There's a 5% chance that Ukraine will have de facto control of Sevastopol by January 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.