Representative of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Cherniak believes that the Russian occupiers need to be ousted from the Crimea peninsula, the department said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.

"The enemy must be cut off from Crimea – to make sure that Russia cannot use the temporarily occupied peninsula for military purposes and, finally, implement the so-called 'Crimean goodwill gesture," Cherniak said in an interview with ArmyInform, reacting to the idea of former commander U.S. Army in Europe Ben Hodges to isolate the occupied Crimea from Russia.

Earlier, Hodges, during an expert interview for Spirit of America, said Crimea is decisive for this war. As long as Russia occupies Crimea peninsula, Ukraine will not be protected. He said that looking at the map, Crimea with Russian troops resembles a dagger pointed at belly of Ukraine.

According to the representative of the Main Intelligence Agency, Ukraine does not stop taking appropriate measures in the Crimea direction, as evidenced, in particular, by the recent events on the peninsula.

"Kilometre-long traffic jams on the illegally built bridge from Kerch to Russia is the right reaction. The Main Intelligence Agency of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry strongly recommends leaving the occupied Crimea while there is still such an option," Cherniak said.