Spatial imagination: the head of the General Staff of Ukraine called Crimea a “nightmarish” Europe Russian base

Strengthening the defense potential of Crimea is a response to the actions of Ukraine and NATO. This was stated by the Senator from the Crimea Sergey Tsekov, commenting on the statements of the head of the Ukrainian General Staff.

“Strengthening the defense of Crimea is a response to the actions of Ukraine and NATO. They would behave peacefully, would not be so aggressive, would not push NATO eastward to the borders of the Russian Federation, maybe everything would be different, ”RIA Novosti quotes the senator.

Earlier, the head of the General Staff of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak said that Crimea is a military base that “nightmares all of Europe and North Africa.”

“For you to understand, Russia does not need Crimea at all as a place for Russians to relax. It is considered as a Russian base, powerful, which should “nightmare” the whole of Europe and northern Africa, and give them, the Russians, the opportunity to dominate the Mediterranean already, ”said the Ukrainian military.

Khomchak added that the Black Sea "in the near future will be a region where various forces will test their capabilities and their patience."

Earlier, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Zagorodniuk brought his vision of the strategic value of Crimea. In early November, the military said that he was worried about the "militarization of the Crimea," but at the same time, intelligence had not yet recorded a "critical strengthening" of Russian troops near Ukraine.

“We always feel threatened. Because our task is to protect the country in any scenario, and, of course, we are looking at different scenarios now. We do not see any critical gain, that is, that would not be part of those plans that we have known about since the beginning of the year, ”said Zagorodniuk.

Recall that Crimea became the Russian region after a referendum held in March 2014, in which most residents spoke in favor of reuniting the peninsula with Russia.

However, official Kiev regularly speaks of intentions to return Crimea. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Priestayko, “de-occupation and the return of Crimea” is one of the main directions of the foreign policy of the Ukrainian state.

Moreover, in Ukraine there is the so-called representation of the country's president in Crimea. At the end of November, the head of this department, Anton Korinevich, said that Zelensky’s team was working on a set of political and diplomatic measures, which in Ukraine calls the strategy to “return” the peninsula.

In late October, Zelensky called for work on a state strategy for the safe reintegration of Donbass and Crimea.

“After five years of war, a state strategy for the safe reintegration of Donbass and, I recall, Crimea, should finally appear,” Interfax-Ukraine quotes the president.

At the same time, the Human Rights Council under the Russian President said that in Ukraine, Crimean residents are being massively persecuted. Attention to this problem was drawn by a member of the board and executive director of MIA “Russia Today” Kirill Vyshinsky.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Viktor Vodolatsky drew attention to the fact that Kiev politicians in their rhetoric ignore the opinion of residents of the Crimea.

“Unfortunately, today people come to power in Ukraine who do not know history and do not pay attention to the will of people living in the Crimea,” the parliamentarian said in an interview with RT.

Vodolatsky noted that the conclusions about the threat to Africa and Europe from the people living on the island are exclusively the conclusions of Ukrainian politicians.

“Our country has never threatened anyone, we only ensure the security of our state. The countries of Europe and Africa understand that, by definition, there is no threat from the Black Sea Front, ”the deputy stated.

He also pointed out that Ukraine is not ready for negotiations with the Russian side and does not know how to behave. The deputy noted that Moscow, in response to the "Russophobic attacks" of Kiev, still offers only friendship.

According to Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, the new statements by the Ukrainian side indicate a desire to draw international attention to the status of Crimea.

“Ukraine is constantly making attempts to give the status of Crimea international significance, to attract attention. And, let's say, position Crimea as an international problem, ”the expert suggested in an interview with RT.

According to him, such a formulation of the issue is beneficial to those forces in Ukraine that belong to the "party of war".