2023-08-24 12:43:23
War in Ukraine
Ukraine welcomes rare commando operation in Crimea
Ukrainian intelligence did not specify the mission of these special forces units, but stressed that “all objectives and tasks were accomplished”, before leaving “without losses”.
PostedAugust 24, 2023, 2:43 PM
View of Yalta, the main resort town of the Crimean peninsula.
Ukraine congratulated itself on Thursday for carrying out a rare commando operation in annexed Crimea and to have hoisted the national flag there, a symbolic success in this bastion considered impregnable by Moscow for Independence Day.
“The national flag has flown again in Crimea”
“The enemy suffered losses among his men and equipment was destroyed. And the national flag flew again in Ukrainian Crimea,” Ukrainian military intelligence said on Telegram.
He did not specify the mission of these special forces units, but he pointed out that they came from the sea, landing near the villages of Olenivka and Mayak, in the west of the peninsula, before leaving ” without losses”. “All objectives and tasks have been accomplished,” assured Ukrainian intelligence, which does not always comment publicly on operations carried out in occupied territories.
The day before, he had claimed the destruction in this same area ofa Russian surface-to-air missile system. Ukraine has sworn to liberate all of its territory occupied by Russia since its February 2022 invasion, as well as Crimea annexed since 2014, yet heavily defended by the Russian army.
The operation and claim for a Ukrainian flag to be hoisted on the peninsula is all the more symbolic as it comes on Independence Day and the day after Ukrainian Flag Day.
“Free People”
“With Olena, we honored the memory of fallen defenders of our country,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the occasion in a message on Telegram, after visiting Saint Sophia Cathedral in the center. -city of Kyiv.
Dressed all in khaki green, as usual, the Ukrainian president, alongside his wife Olena, laid a wreath of flowers at the foot of a memorial wall with the portraits of soldiers killed at the front in this historic district of the capital. , flooded with sunshine in the morning. “We remember all those who gave their lives for freedom and independence, for the free future of Ukraine,” he added, calling on Ukrainians “not to lose faith in these times. difficult”.
A year and a half to the day after the start of the invasion
Ukraine’s Independence Day this year comes a year and a half to the day after the invasion began on February 24 as Kiev has been waging an arduous counter-offensive since June in an attempt to drive the Russians out of its territory. “The feast of a free people. The party of strong people. The celebration of worthy people”, had hammered Zelensky early Thursday in a written message.
On Khrechtchatyk Avenue, the main artery of kyiv, residents were strolling Thursday morning. Some took pictures with Russian tanks on display, while others wore the famous “vyshyvanka”, these loose embroidered shirts that have become a symbol of national unity against invasion.
Young girls wearing the vyshyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian embroidered blouse.
(AFP)
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