Russia announced on Friday that it is building fortifications on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula (illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014) after its soldiers retreated from the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kherson amid a counteroffensive by the Kiev army, AFP reported. .
“Under my control, work on the construction of fortifications is being carried out on the territory of Crimea to guarantee the safety of residents here,” said Governor Serhii Aksyonov, appointed by Moscow after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.
At the same time, he emphasized that the security of Crimea is ensured “mainly by measures that will be carried out in the territory of the Kherson region”, adjacent to the peninsula, in the south of Ukraine.
The announcement came as Russian forces staged a humiliating retreat from the region last week after failing to counter a Ukrainian military counterattack.
The withdrawal of the Russian military, which, in particular, left the capital of the region of the same name, allowed the Kyiv forces to bring their weapons closer to Crimea, which has been targeted several times in recent months.
In October, a bridge across the Kerch Strait that connects the peninsula to Russian territory was partially damaged in an attack Moscow attributed to Ukraine, involving a trap truck.
Other attacks attributed to Ukrainian forces took place in Crimea, notably against the Russian navy in Sevastopol or several Russian military infrastructures on the peninsula.
Since the annexation in 2014, Moscow considers Crimea a part of its territory, which is not recognized by the international community. Kyiv wants to regain the peninsula. (Agerpress)
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