Serhiy Aksyonov, the pro-Russian governor of the annexed peninsula of Crimea, said on Tuesday that all measures had been taken to deal with a hypothetical counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces, EFE reports. Agerpres.

“I believe that the decision to build defensive lines in Crimea and at the entrances to the peninsula was wise and well-founded,” Aksyonov told a group of journalists, the Interfax agency quotes.

At the same time, he clarified that this does not mean that the fortifications will be used for the purposes for which they were built.

“We had the duty to prepare for any development, and we did it,” the governor of the peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, emphasized.

Faced with statements about an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive for the return of Crimea, Aksyonov assured that Russian troops are ready to repel it.

“We cannot underestimate the enemy, but we can say that we are ready and that there will be no catastrophe,” he added.

According to the governor, the Russian army “built a modern and phased defense line” and “there are more than enough forces” for the defense of the peninsula.

Aksyonov’s statements came after Volodymyr Saldo, the temporary governor of the Kherson region appointed by Russia, warned that Ukrainian troops were preparing to cross the Dnieper and advance on its left bank.

“On the right bank of the Dnieper, enemy units are making maneuvers, changing positions, transferring troops and heavy weapons, preparing boats. There are signs of preparation for an attempt to force the Dnieper and hiding this preparation,” said Saldo v. statements to the official Russian agency RIA Novosti.

Kherson Oblast was annexed by Russia last September, but its capital, the city of the same name, was retaken by Ukraine, as was the entire part of this administrative division on the right bank of the Dnieper.

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