Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attack on the bridge between Crimea and the village of Tsjonhar, near Kherson. But where the attack isn’t all that surprising, BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg calls the weapon used “exciting.”
This is the so-called British-made Storm Shadow missile. “This is a long-range missile, and there’s been a huge discussion about using long-range weapons,” Hammelburg says. «And this can then hit the Crimea. This is a very important factor in the strategy of the offensive».
“Indicates that the Ukrainians would prefer to move the offensive to the Crimea.”
The damage to the bridge itself is therefore minor, says Hammelburg. But the fact that Ukraine uses long-range weapons is certainly noteworthy, he thinks. “It also indicates that the Ukrainians – as experts have long been saying – would prefer to move the offensive to the Crimea,” he continues. Crimea has become a symbol of the Russian occupation of Ukraine and Ukrainians dream of retaking it. This is just a moment, but using the Storm Shadow missile is the story of the day as far as I’m concerned.
The Russians pinch him
Yesterday, Ukrainian officials warned that Russians “had better flee Crimea,” and with that the Ukrainian military is putting its money where it talks, Hammelburg says. “A big part of war is intimidation,” he says. ‘Over there this also fits. But: it’s true that the Russians squeeze it quite a bit there.
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Rightly so, he says. Especially since the Ukrainians repeat from time to time that they are primarily interested in the Crimea, after which an attack follows. And where these were initially carried out with HIMARS missiles, Hammelburg calls the deployment of the Storm Shadow missiles “a strategic breakthrough”.
Offensive
And this was necessary, because the Ukrainian offensive is progressing slowly. The Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky himself says that “it’s not a Hollywood film”, so victory is not a matter of a few days. On the contrary. According to Zelensky, it goes slowly and often stops.
With that, Zelensky seems to be taking a more sober view than the Wagner Group’s mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who says the Russians are “unraveling things,” because things are so much worse than they admit. “In other words, the Ukrainians are much more successful than the Russians admit,” concludes Hammelburg. “But we’re not there in the end, so I don’t know.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
