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Russian troops are planning massive shelling of Ukraine on August 23 and 24 – the Day of the State Flag and Independence Day, respectively. These crimes have been prepared in the Kremlin for a long time. This was stated by military expert Oleg Zhdanov on the air of the FREEDOM telethon on the UA channel.
The expert believes that the recent rocket attacks on Zhytomyr were a rehearsal by Russia before the massive attack on August 23 and 24:
“I think that the blow to Zhytomyr is training before August 23-24. They have been preparing for a long time, they are carrying rockets to the Gomel region of Belarus. And I understand perfectly well that they will not let us spend the holiday in normal conditions. They will try to do some dirty trick a couple of times.”
Zhdanov told why Crimea is strategically important:
“The whole of Crimea is practically a military base. During the occupation, Putin even managed to restore old Soviet facilities. For example, a storage facility that was intended for nuclear weapons.
And so there is a military unit on a military unit, starting from Cape Chau, where the 35th training center of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is located, and ending with the airfield in Saki. If you walk along the coast, then almost through the village there is a military unit.”
He suggested where most likely Russians will fire missiles at Ukraine on 23/24 August:
“In my opinion, preparations are underway. And, most likely, they will make a massive strike with the maximum number of missiles fired.
It is possible that strikes will be launched from three points: Belarus, the Russian Federation, and the Black Sea.”
The expert is convinced that the threat to Ukraine from the Belarusian army is on the same level:
“The threat remained the same. Although, it can be said that it has decreased slightly. Self-proclaimed President Alexander Lukashenko is actively giving ammunition to the Russian Federation. He removes equipment from storage, and gives it to Russia. And before the start of the war, no one distributes cartridges. But the exercises are being extended. One ends and another begins. Therefore, I think that the situation of non-intervention of the Belarusian army remains at the same level.”
Zhdanov said that the war in Ukraine will not be “frozen”:
“I don’t think autumn will stop us. We accepted the war in February, that is, practically in winter. We have experience in waging war, and we understand how, under what conditions, we may have to fight. The fact is that the freezing of the conflict may come in the near future. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres will most likely persuade us to negotiate. And the condition for negotiations will necessarily be a ceasefire. Russia is in dire need of this. She breathes out. And if they stop, then we can go on a counter-offensive.
The main thing is not to lose the course that we took to liberate the territory of Ukraine within the 1991 borders. So the weather can create difficulties, but it won’t hurt much.”
Read also: Operational information on Russian invasion (August 20)
