Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, said that within the “next two to three months” new attacks similar to today’s mysterious strikes on a railway hub and an airbase in Crimea could occur.

The adviser to the president, Mykhailo Podoliak, said that Ukraine is conducting a counteroffensive aimed at creating “chaos in the Russian troops” by striking the occupiers’ supply lines from the occupied territories.

Podolyak told the Guardian that there could be more attacks in the “next two to three months” similar to Tuesday’s mysterious strikes on a rail hub and airbase in Crimea, as well as last week’s anti-Russian war on an airfield in Saki. peninsula.

Russia said Tuesday’s fire triggered explosions at an ammunition depot in Crimea’s Geankoy district, an incident Podolyak called a “reminder” that Russian-occupied Crimea poses a “high risk of death for invaders and thieves.”

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. They forced Russian tourists to flee Crimea in panic. On Tuesday, queues lined up near the railway station in the regional capital Simferopol.

Moscow’s Defense Ministry said it was dealing with cases of sabotage and was taking “necessary measures” to prevent further episodes.

Creating chaos, Ukrainian strategy

“Our strategy is to destroy logistics, supply lines, ammunition depots and other military infrastructure. Let’s create chaos in the Russian troops,” said Podolyak.

The adviser, often described as the third most powerful figure in the state, said Kyiv’s approach differs from Moscow’s strategy of using brute artillery to conquer territory in eastern Donbas, where Russian forces have destroyed cities such as Mariupol and Severodonetsk.

“So Russia sort of taught everyone that a counteroffensive requires a huge number of troops, like a giant fist moving in one direction,” he said, “but the Ukrainian counteroffensive looks completely different. We do not use the tactics of the 60s and 70s, of the last century.”

However, it may also be an indication that Ukraine is struggling to muster the necessary numbers of men and military equipment to support a full-scale counteroffensive in the south of the country, which typically requires a three-to-one advantage.

Instead, Ukraine sought to cut off Kherson – the only Russian-controlled city on the west bank of the Dnieper – by destroying road and rail bridges with newly deployed Western rocket artillery, to the point where Russia could no longer effectively replenish its forces.

Podolyak called for “another 50, 60, 80” MSDS (reactive salvo fire systems) in addition to the existing arsenal of about 20, 16 of which are American Himars trucks. Three – track-wheeled M270s – have also arrived from the UK, with three more on the way.

The goal of the Ukrainians is to block Russia’s access to military supplies

With the help of long-range missiles provided by the West, Podolyak added, Ukraine hopes to weaken the invaders’ power due to “a lack of supplies and ammunition,” which will “force the Russians to fight as they did in the first months of the war.”

In the early phase of the conflict, a disorganized Russian army failed to capture Kyiv after the invading forces were blocked on the roads leading to the city, leaving them vulnerable to Ukrainian infantry and anti-tank weapons.

A presidential adviser suggested that the attack on the air base last week could have been the handiwork of guerrillas, but rejected any suggestion that it could have been an accident, as Moscow suggested shortly afterwards.

Podolyak said the Russians have “different physics” if they believe the explosions were caused by discarded cigarettes causing the ammunition to explode, before predicting a repeat of such attacks behind the rear in the future.

“I certainly agree with the Ministry of Defense of Russia, which predicts an increase in such incidents in the next two to three months. I think we can see more,” said Podoliak.

Read also:Why the new explosion in Crimea could be of great strategic importance / Russians flee from HIMARS systems in vain

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