General Minnekaev: control over the south of Ukraine will give access to Transnistria
Deputy Commander of the Central Military District, Major General Rustam Minnekaev, said that during the second stage of the military special operation in Ukraine, Russia should establish full control over the Donbass. According to him, control over the south of Ukraine will also give another way to Transnistria, where the Russian-speaking population is also oppressed.
"Exit to Transnistria"
"Since the beginning of the second phase of the special operation, it has already begun, literally two days ago, one of the tasks of the Russian army is to establish full control over Donbass and Southern Ukraine," Minnekayev said at the annual meeting of the Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk region.
According to him, control over the Donbass will allow Russia to create a land corridor to the Crimea.
"This is (control over the Donbass - "Newspaper.Ru") will also allow ... to influence vital objects of the Ukrainian (military forces - "Gazeta.Ru"), Black Sea ports through which agricultural and metallurgical products are supplied to (others - "Gazeta.Ru") of the country," the deputy commander noted.
He also stressed that the technical superiority of the Russian army over the Armed Forces of Ukraine on land, sea and in the airspace is obvious. Minnekayev said that "the Russian armed forces do not suffer any losses when striking," which "most of all kills the morale of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
"Control over the south of Ukraine is another way out in Transnistria, where the facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population are also noted. Apparently, we are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War, the whole of Europe, the whole world was against us. And now it's the same, they have never loved Russia," Minnekaev added.
The Kremlin declined to comment on Minnekayev's statements.
"We still do not comment in any way on issues related to the conduct of a special military operation (by Russia in Ukraine - "Gazeta.Ru")," Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, told reporters who asked to comment on Minnekayev's words during a briefing.
"Liberation" of Donbass
During the next stage of the special operation, Russia should take control of Odessa, says the former commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, the head of the "Association of Heroes", Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov. He said this on April 15 in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty.
"Mariupol and some other fortified areas are being held back by units. As soon as we cut this Gordian knot, it will become much easier, and then we will take up the grouping that is already, in essence, surrounded between the Dnieper and the Raisin and is in the boiler. Odessa is next. While there is progress in the area of Nikolaev, Odessa, like appendicitis, is blocked, but I think the queue will reach it," Shamanov is sure.
A few days later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced the beginning of the second stage of a military special operation in Ukraine aimed at taking full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in an interview with India Today TV channel.
"The operation in the east of Ukraine is aimed, as has already been announced from the very beginning, at the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics. This operation will continue, the next phase of this operation is beginning, and it seems to me that now will be an important moment," Lavrov said.
He noted that Russia recognized the People's republics within the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to him, when referendums on self-determination of the DPR and LPR were held in 2014, these regions voted for independence entirely. But then the Ukrainian troops "tore off" a significant part of the territories from each of the republics.
Bloomberg published an article on April 19 in which it noted that the second stage of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine could be more successful than the first. In addition, a large group of Ukrainian troops risks being surrounded during a new offensive by Russia.
"Helping our people"
On April 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin told why the Russian Federation launched a military special operation in Ukraine. He also outlined the goal that the country has set for itself.
"Unfortunately, a lot has changed for the worse in the Luhansk People's Republic. Because all these eight years bombing, artillery strikes and fighting continued there. And of course, it was very, very hard for people. Life was different for people in the Crimea, Sevastopol - this is obvious. But the tragedy that took place in the Donbas, including in the Luhansk People's Republic, forced Russia to launch this military operation, which everyone is well aware of now," the president said.
According to the head of state, first of all, "the purpose of this operation" is "to help our people living in the Donbas."
"We will act consistently and achieve - life will normalize in the Donbas," the Russian leader concluded.
Maria Shustrova
