Occupiers want to annex Ukrainian territories to Russia (illustrative photo)/Getty Images

US intelligence claims that Russia will try to annex the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by mid-May. However, even the invaders themselves are not sure that they have come to Ukraine for a long time.

An expert of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, ex-worker of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Stupak told about this.

According to him, all Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia, we will be able to return only by military means.

We have no other ways. We return Kherson, Zaporozhye. Well, their documents (invaders – Channel 24) are worth absolutely nothing. The world community will declare that it does not recognize these documents and will not even raise the question of the need for any decision of the “new Russian government” to return them.

Ivan Stupak

Expert of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, expert of the SBU

As Stupak noted, the Russians sent their “representatives” to the territory of the temporarily occupied territories, who in unison say that they came there for a long time and now it is allegedly Russian territory.

“When they say this, it means that they they are not at all sure that they have come here for a long time. This is an attempt to convince the local elite that they will convince local collaborators to cooperate even more for a long time,” the ex-SBU employee said.

However, as Stupak added, despite all the efforts of the Russians, this does not look convincing.

Russian war from Ukraine: important news

• Russian invaders for 74 days continue a full-scale war against Ukraine. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy is advancing in the Limansky, Popasnyansky, Severodonetsky and Avdeevsky directions.
• In the Lugansk region in Belogorovka, the Russians launched an airstrike on a local school. It is known about the death of 60 people. They found themselves under the rubble.
• Advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, Petr Andryushchenko, said that the Russians, hiding behind the regime of silence, arranged a new point to adjust shelling and conduct sniper fire at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
• In the Bessarabian direction, the situation also remains tense. Armed formations in the Transnistrian region and units of the operational group of Russian troops are on alert.

Stupak spoke about the possible actions of the Russians in Ukraine: watch the video

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