General Ben Hodges is confident that Ukraine will be able to return Crimea by autumn. Under certain conditions, the Russians may find themselves in a hopeless situation on the peninsula.

This Channel 24 was told by military analyst Alexei Getman. According to the forecast of the former commander of the US Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, Crimea will be liberated in August 2023.

The American general believes that providing Ukraine with high-precision weapons will accelerate the process of de-occupation of the peninsula. According to Hetman, the liberation of Crimea depends not only on this.

How the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson region will help liberate Crimea

The military analyst is convinced that the ground offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson region will also play a big role in the return of Crimea.

Now on the left bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region there are the least combat-ready Russian units – these are freshly mobilized, having neither moral nor physical strength to withstand this war. The National Guard and the Kadyrovites even came there to restore order there,” Hetman said.

He added that there are a large number of deserters on the left bank of the Dnieper and there is no discipline at all. And Russia withdrew its combat-ready and disciplined troops to other directions, in particular to the East of Ukraine.

The Russians will have no choice but to surrender

< p>The military analyst suggested that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could eventually take advantage of the weakness of the Russian troops on the left bank of Kherson.

“If we gather forces and means to attack the left bank of the Kherson region and advance to Mariupol, this will be a big step towards the liberation of Crimea,” – Hetman said.

The military analyst added that the supply of military equipment to the peninsula should also be blocked. In particular, for this it is necessary to “finish off” the Crimean bridge. Hetman noted that the Russians are afraid to move by sea, because they are afraid of the Neptune and Harpoon missiles, which are in Ukraine.

By and large, it will be possible to assume that Crimea will be surrounded. The Russians will quickly realize that they have no other choice but to appear. After all, they have nowhere to run away – the sea is all around,” the military analyst emphasized.

Long-range weapons will speed up the de-occupation of Crimea

Ukraine's leadership is considering just such a scenario.

“Probably, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine calculated all this. We are waiting until we are fully ready to do this,” the military analyst said.

He added that long-range weapons will help Ukraine in this process.

De-occupation of Crimea: possible scenarios

• The temporarily occupied peninsula is the key to resolving the military conflict with Russia. In December, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny noted that Ukraine would return Crimea if it moved deep into the front.
• According to Zaluzhny, in order to reach the borders of Crimea, the Armed Forces of Ukraine should overcome the distance of 84 kilometers to Melitopol. From there, the Ukrainian military can already shell the Crimean Isthmus. But this is possible only if Ukraine receives the appropriate resources from Western partners.
• The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, noted that Crimea would be returned in a combined way – both by force and diplomacy. And Ukrainian units will go there with weapons in their hands.