The key to ending the war in Ukraine? Attacking Crimea.
By John E. Herbst and Daniel Fried
In the coming weeks and months, Ukrainian forces have a real chance at achieving victory on the battlefield. The path to victory is anything but straightforward. But one way or another, it likely passes through Crimea.
Ever since Russia first invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine in 2014, far too many Western policymakers assumed that Crimea was Russia’s real red line — the one territorial conquest it could never part with. Russia itself has spent considerable energy stressing this to Western interlocutors since then.
In reality, Crimea represents a point of maximum leverage. It is exactly where Ukraine needs to make battlefield gains to bring this war to a successful conclusion.
There are signs that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is starting to ramp up. While Ukraine will ultimately strike where it anticipates the most favorable outcome, many observers think Ukrainian forces will eventually have to make a push in the south to cut the land bridge running from Russia through occupied Donbas to Crimea. If successful, such a move could be decisive. It would divide Russian forces arrayed across Ukraine’s south, and even potentially put Crimea itself in a vulnerable position.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/06/ukraine-counteroffensive-crimea-russia/
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