Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov stated that strikes on Russian military targets in temporarily occupied Crimea and the south have already led to serious logistical problems for Russian troops and the "accumulation of a large number of crises."
As an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports, Fedorov stated this at a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson in Kyiv on Wednesday.
"What will happen next? We will see later. You will definitely see it from Russian posts and from various information sources. For now, we won’t give any spoilers. But we already see, for example in the south, some sectors of the front where Russian infantry, due to destroyed logistics, moves 30 km on foot to enter positions," the minister said, answering a question regarding the consequences of strikes on temporarily occupied Crimea and the south.
According to Fedorov, Russia is facing major problems with delivering infantry to the front line, supplying it, and with fuel for generators used by UAV operators. He emphasized that "there are a large number of problems that, at first glance, are not obvious, which affect the intensity of enemy actions regarding attacks on Ukrainian territories."
The minister also noted that Ukraine records the continuation of the crisis with critical infrastructure and fuel for Russia.
"We see that in Crimea they announce they will sell fuel via QR codes, then they cancel it, and now it is impossible to buy anything at all. That is, a large number of crises are beginning to accumulate, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to solve crisis after crisis," Fedorov stressed.
He added that this operation by the Defense Forces of Ukraine continues. Separately, the defense minister recalled the 40-day operation to influence Russia in order to compel Russia to peace, announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "which continues to be implemented."
"Therefore, everything is going according to plan. It is important to increase the intensity of strikes, increase the involvement of resources for this, and receive tranches from the European loan faster," Fedorov stated, recalling that Ukraine received the first tranche of the European loan on Tuesday.
The minister called this "bad news for Russia" because the Ministry of Defense is currently increasing the intensity of procurements to continue seizing the initiative on the front line.
"...therefore, we see logistical problems for Russia, we see problems with critical infrastructure, which, in principle, also affects the combat capability of troops. We see that the maneuverability of Russian troops is disrupted. We see that logistics continues to suffer every day," Fedorov summarized.
According to him, Ukraine’s ultimate task is to do everything to reduce the intensity of enemy attacks on the front line in order to protect Ukrainian servicemen holding the front, as well as to protect cities.
"Because we see attacks on Dnipro, we see in recent days how Russia is trying to attack Zaporizhia. Our task is to do everything to push the enemy back so that they do not have the opportunity to do this, and to protect civilians and the military who are now in front-line regions, on the front line," the defense minister added.
On June 30, Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko reported that the special fund of the state budget received another EUR 3.9 billion from the European Union, which will be directed to strengthening the capabilities of the defense-industrial complex and ensuring urgent deliveries for the needs of the front.
