Alexander Khodakovsky. Photo: Wikipedia.org.
Deputy Head of the National Guard Department for the DPR Alexander Khodakovsky wrote in his Telegram channel that, in his opinion, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will focus on Mariupol when planning their expected counter-offensive.
< p>He added that the announced plan of attack on «canonical Russian territories», in the hope of arranging «barter», is fraught with the fact that the Ukrainian forces will face a population that will not «meet the invaders with bread and salt».
«Yes, and in the minds of everyone who is able to hold a weapon in their hands, everything will immediately fall into place,» Khodakovsky noted, noting that in this case the special operation will turn into a Patriotic War with all the consequences.
In the case of Mariupol, if the Ukrainian army manages to reach it from Volnovakha, an instant threat to Donetsk is created. In addition, Khodakovsky warned, it threatens to cut the land corridor to the Crimea. Kyiv will also receive «an inestimable political effect».
The expert also noted that Russia may not have offensive forces to re-take Mariupol quickly. Therefore, he recommended to strengthen this particular direction.
«I, of course, am still a strategist, but now, in principle, there are not a lot of strategists,» Khodakovsky summed up.