Ukraine’s military intelligence says leaked counteroffensive plans are fictitious. Ukraine responds to Brazilian president’s suggestion to give up Crimea to Russia. Russians lose interest in vacationing in Crimea, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister.
Ukraine’s military intelligence says leaked counteroffensive plans are fictitious
The documents detailing plans for building up the Ukrainian military ahead of a planned counteroffensive, which appeared on social media channels, are fictitious and look like a Russian disinformation operation, spokesperson for the Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Adnriy Yusov, said on television.
“In the past decades, successful operations that the Russian intelligence services conducted, were in Photoshop,” he added.
“The needs of the Ukrainian military have been widely discussed at various levels. It is no secret for anyone that Ukraine has been asking for fighter jets, tanks, ammunition, and other supplies it needs to quickly retake the occupied territories and preserve lives. We’ll wait for official commentary (from the Pentagon), but I think the Ukrainian public has no grounds to worry,” Yusov said.
The posts were made up of false and distorted casualty figures on both sides. Some of the information was drawn from open sources, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence said.
There are no grounds to worry, he added. A Ukrainian counteroffensive will happen, and the Russians will see the key plans on the battlefield.
He also said that it was possible that Russia forged the documents to derail or slow the deliveries of western weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine responds to Brazilian president’s suggestion to give up Crimea to Russia
Responding to a suggestion from the Brazilian president that Ukraine should give up Crimea to end the war with Russia, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ukraine does not trade its land. Spokesperson for the Ministry, Oleh Nikolenko, said in a Facebook post: “Ukraine appreciates the efforts of the Brazilian president toward a solution to stop the Russian aggression. Yet we clearly state that Ukraine does not trade its territories.”
There is no legal, political or moral reason that would justify Ukraine having to yield even a centimeter of its land, Nikolenko said.
Any mediation efforts to restore peace in Ukraine should be based on respect for the sovereignty and the full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity in line with the principles of the UN Charter. On Thursday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested that Ukraine could give up Crimea to end the war.
Russians lose interest in vacationing in Crimea, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister says
The number of internet searches from Russia for “Crimea vacation” fell by half from a year ago. Even regular Russians realize the time to enjoy stolen Ukrainian land is coming to an end, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
“Russians have lost interest in Crimea, according to data from the Russian search engine Yandex. March 2023 had twice less searches for ‘Crimea vacation’ (129.000) than March 2022 (261.000). Even regular Russians realize the time to enjoy stolen Ukrainian land is coming to an end,” Kuleba said.
According to Ukraine’s defense intelligence, Russia-installed local authorities and Russian service members are selling their houses in Crimea and sending their families off to Russia. Russian businesses that began to operate on the peninsula in 2014, are moving their money elsewhere, preparing to leave.
Ukraine in the context of geopolitical external challenges. Ukraine in Flames #393
The elimination of the russian military threat does not guarantee that Ukraine will automatically overcome the challenges associated with understanding its role in the world, developing the rule of law, building strong institutions and protecting the interests of its citizens. It is important for Ukraine to win conceptually, offering our vision of further relations with the world, the role of russia in the future and the post-war development of our economy and state. Watch Ukraine in flames #393 to find out about external challenges and threats that Ukraine might face on the global arena in the near future.
Guests:
- Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
- Fiona Hill, Senior Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Former Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States
- Andreas Umland, Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs
- Vadym Denysenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future
