Yuliya Talmazan is a journalist based in London.
Contributed by Matteo Moschella and Sara Mhaidli.
This is rhetoric that leaves little doubt that Ukraine was behind the attack, a military observer told his NBC News.
"All these explosions in Crimea cannot happen by chance," said Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at St Andrews University in Scotland. "These are critical military installations that are being attacked very effectively and are showing signs of readiness." , long-range weapons, or a combination of all three, O'Brien said.
Kyiv has not officially taken responsibility for "trying to throw Russia off balance and maintain uncertainty about where the next attack will come and what Ukraine can do." said Neil Melvin, director of international security studies. Royal United Service Institute is a London-based think tank.
According to O'Brien, in a military sense, the explosion reduced the flow of ammunition to Russian forces in southern Ukraine, forcing the Russians to do more to defend Crimea.
The apparent deteriorating security situation across Crimea is likely to raise concerns among Russian commanders,the UK Ministry of Defense posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
But there are also important psychological factors involved, O'Brien added.
"It is a very strong political statement to actually show that Crimea is not safe and not under strong Russian control," said O'Brien. "This reinforces the fact that Crimea is part of Ukraine." Occurs during construction, most of which have been occupied by Russia since the early days of the invasion. and "likely part of a coherent Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain control of the West Bank of the Dnipro." The War Research Institute, a military think tank based in the United States.
Zelensky's adviser Podlyak told The Guardian on Tuesday that Ukraine would create "chaos" by deeply attacking Russian military supply lines and military infrastructure. He said he was engaged in a targeted counterattack. to the occupied territories.
For Melvin, the explosion in Crimea was part of the first phase of the long-anticipated Ukrainian counterattack, which military analysts said would "shape the battle" ahead of the main offensive. - an attack involving targeting Moscow air power in the Crimea, which seeks to weaken Russia's resistance.
But attacks on Russian positions there could also signal a shift in the scope of Ukraine's war effort, Melvin said.
Until last week, it was felt that the counterattack would focus on regaining territories lost since the invasion earlier this year. “But what they have really shown is that they are not going to accept that the territories occupied before the war started are part of Russia,” Melvin said.
"Crimea is clearly not off-limits," he added. "Now all of Ukraine really does appear to be within the objectives of the Kyiv leadership."
