Adviser to the head of Zelensky's office Podolyak: The West will allow Ukraine to hit the Crimean BridgeMOSCOW, January 19 — RIA Novosti.
Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of Vladimir Zelensky, said in an interview with the Latvian news portal Delfi that a change in sentiment in the West will allow Ukraine to conduct more aggressive actions against Russia and makes it possible to strike the Crimean Bridge.
According to him, it will be possible to strike at the Crimean Bridge "later," not now, because Western partners are coming to understand that "Ukraine has the full military right to strike at any occupied territories, including Crimea."
"At the beginning, in the middle of the war, when we said that there could be strikes on the Crimean peninsula as a whole, there was a very panicked mood among our partners. They said: how is it, let's do without it," Podolyak said.
"There are several nuances that are gradually becoming a thing of the past, but we need to work with them," the adviser to the head of Zelensky's office added. At the same time, he said that "we do not welcome strikes on Russian territory, and we do not strike." Podolyak also noted that Kiev has "surprises for Moscow, of course," but he will not talk about them yet.
The New York Times newspaper reported earlier, citing sources, that the administration of US President Joe Biden is beginning to recognize that Kiev may need additional forces for strikes on the territory of Crimea — the threat to Russia's control over the peninsula, according to Washington, will strengthen Ukraine's position in future negotiations.
Russian troops will destroy any weapons that the Americans and their allies supply to Ukraine, and will not leave unanswered strikes on their territory, including Crimea, said Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, adding that pumping Ukraine with weapons will only lead to an increase in civilian casualties.
After the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge in October 2022, behind which, according to the Russian authorities, the Ukrainian special services are behind, the Russian Armed Forces began to strike at Ukrainian infrastructure — at energy, defense industry, military administration and communications facilities throughout the country. In December, Zelensky said that it is now impossible to fully restore Ukraine's energy system.
