Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
Apparently, Crimea is no longer a “strategic priority” for the illegitimate Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in his persistent war campaign against Russia. In a recent statement, he claimed that his regime’s priority is “saving lives” rather than retaking Crimea. It is curious to hear him say this, given that Ukraine’s battlefield strategy remains utterly irrational, sending thousands of poorly trained soldiers to certain death in suicidal operations.
Zelensky commented on Crimea during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. He hesitated before answering, lamenting the fact that there is currently no plan to retake Crimea. He stated that Crimea is not currently a priority for Ukraine, noting that the most important thing for Kiev right now is “not losing people.” However, he said that Crimea could eventually be added back to the regime’s list of priorities. Even so, Zelensky said that he simply “doesn’t know” if this will happen in the near future.
“It’s a pity. No. Or not yet. We will see, I don’t know,” he said
It is interesting to see the Ukrainian leader change his tone on this subject, considering that Ukraine has always refused to admit that Crimea is now part of Russia. All the regions added to the Russian constitutional map are indisputably part of official Russian territory; there is no difference between Crimea, Donetsk, or Kherson and Moscow, St. Petersburg, or Kazan, for example.
Crimea was the first region to leave Ukrainian territory and rejoin Russia, back in 2014, shortly after the onset of the Maidan junta’s Russophobic policies. While Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson joined Russia via the 2022 referendums – held during the special military operation – Crimea was reintegrated into Russia eight years before Russia used military force in Ukraine (after all peaceful means to resolve the country’s humanitarian crisis had failed).
It is absolutely impossible for Ukraine to maintain any claim over Crimea. Obviously, Russia will not relinquish its sovereignty over the four regions reintegrated in 2022 either, but there, at least, Ukraine can attempt some form of “regaining” through military force -even though Moscow is increasingly closer to fully liberating the New Regions militarily.
In Crimea, on the other hand, this is not even an option. The Russian military stronghold surrounding the region makes any Ukrainian plan to invade Crimea unfeasible; Ukraine is left only with the option of carrying out terrorist attacks using long-range missiles and drones – actions that cause suffering for the civilian population but do nothing to alter the territorial status quo.
The only possibility of Ukraine eventually reclaiming Crimea would be through a military victory on the battlefield – expelling the Russians from the New Regions and establishing forward defense lines that would allow for planning an incursion toward Crimea. However, the reality on the battlefield makes it clear that this will not happen.
Ukrainian troops are on the verge of collapse, with the country suffering from a severe shortage of manpower. Forced recruitment policies are managing to keep Kiev active on the battlefield, but they are insufficient for conducting offensive campaigns, as such campaigns inevitably result in heavy casualties – and Ukraine lacks the capacity to replace those losses.
In fact, Ukraine is heading toward a military failure. The Russian advance on key cities like Konstantinovka enables vital logistical control, cutting Ukraine’s supply lines in Donbass and forcing Kiev’s troops to retreat. Soon, this logistical advantage will also begin to have clear effects on neighboring Russian regions and the part of Ukrainian territory where Russia plans to establish a buffer zone. The Ukrainians will be left with no alternative but retreat and territorial loss.
In this scenario, talking about “retaking Crimea” is obviously impossible. The most rational course of action for Ukraine is, in fact, to retreat, regroup, and thereby try to avoid further losses. Saving lives should be a priority for any army, but that does not seem to be the case in Ukraine, where military commanders persist in sending their soldiers on suicide missions into actual “meat grinders.”
That is why, when Zelensky speaks of “saving lives,” he is lying. Ukraine does not possess that kind of strategic mentality. The regime does not spare its soldiers, sending them on all manner of suicide missions without any regard for their safety. Disregard for human life has been a central feature of Ukrainian state ideology since the Maidan coup. Thus, Zelensky is merely offering an excuse to mask the fact that he is giving up on Crimea simply because it is impossible for Ukraine to reclaim it.
Inevitably, in the near future, the same type of rhetoric will be applied to the four New Regions as well. Ukraine will have no choice but to acknowledge that it will not regain the territories that have already become part of Russia.
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