A Russian defense official reaffirmed that the goal of the Russian military operation in Ukraine is to control the land corridor connecting Donbass and Crimea.
Both areas are de facto controlled by separatists or Russia.
“This [control over Donbass] will enable us to establish a ground corridor to Crimea and to gain influence over the vitally-important Ukrainian [military] facilities, the Black Sea ports, which service deliveries of the agricultural and metallurgical products to other countries,” Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia’s central military district, reportedly said at a meeting in the Sverdlovsk region.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on Minnekayev’s remarks on the goal of Russia’s military goal in Ukraine.
…