Former Royal Navy officer Tom Sharp assessed the situation in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian Crimea. According to him, the Russian forces are currently trapped, and the dictator Putin himself must come to terms with the inevitable loss of the peninsula.
Points of attention
- Ukraine is predicted to successfully return Crimea thanks to the blocking of the main supply arteries.
- Increasing the stockpile of weapons will allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to destroy the Crimean Bridge or disable it.
- Putin realized the inevitability of defeat in Crimea, so the Russians provide defense of the bridge with barges.
Ukraine has every chance to return Crimea
Crimea – totemic, strategically essential, Putin’s “unsinkable aircraft carrier” – is starting to look unseaworthy, Tom Sharp noted ironically.
He noted that the closure of only four main supply arteries (the Kerch bridge, two ferry crossings, and the railway) would leave the peninsula without engines, weapons, and food.
As a former officer of the Royal Navy notes, the stockpile of weapons, thanks to which the Armed Forces can destroy the Crimean Bridge, is growing.
For example, the new marine drone, Stalker 5.0, is significantly cheaper than the Magura V5.
Russia will not be able to save the Crimean Bridge from destruction
According to Tom Sharpe, without detailed plans for the bridge, no one can say with certainty what payload might collapse the span and put it out of service forever.
But a thousand kilograms of high explosives driven with precision would cause huge damage and, at that price, you might as well just keep going until you succeed, - emphasised the ex-officer.
He also added that Putin finally realised the inevitability of such an attack, so the Russians are doing everything possible to protect the structure with barges.
According to Sharpe, such a crude defence mechanism needs to be broken only once, and the Armed Forces will be able to disable key supply nodes.
This isn’t about retaking Crimea per se, it’s about rendering it useless as an operational node. Ukraine’s Armed Forces have already demonstrated that they can conduct simultaneous attacks from land and sea, as well possess an ability to strike this bridge, he explained.
