He said this in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
“It seems that those who declare such plans are nothing more than participants in the information war.
Someone just thought that such words are important in order to cheer up the population,” Novikov said.
According to him, these statements do not show a concrete and effective plan.
“It is impossible to return Crimea for Ukraine either by military means or by diplomacy,” he stressed.
Earlier, the chairman of the Crimean Public Chamber, Oleksandr Formanchuk, said that Kyiv's plan to seize the peninsula with weapons in hand is tantamount to suicide.
The intention of Kyiv to return the Crimea under the control of Ukraine was announced by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov.
Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014: the majority of residents voted for reunification with Russia.