Media: Russian attack on Ukraine could start from the Sea of Azov

OSCE mission recorded convoys of Russian trucks and military equipment in Donbas.

The Sea of Azov could become the region where armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine begins. This is reported by The Washington Post.

US intelligence warned that Russia is planning a massive, multidimensional military offensive against Ukraine involving 175,000 of its troops.

The article states that there are grounds to believe the Azov coastline has greater strategic and economic value for Russia than the war-affected eastern regions of Ukraine.

However, the Ukrainian navy's movements in the Azov Sea are restricted because Russia regularly closes some of its zones for "artillery exercises." In December, the Ukrainian naval forces reported that nearly 70% of the Azov Sea had been blocked to shipping due to navigational warnings from Moscow.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister told the publication that, from a security standpoint, Russia dominates the Sea of Azov, and in the event of war, the Azov would be actively used to pressure southern coastal cities.

Dmytro Kuleba
Foreign Minister of Ukraine

In the current circumstances, of course, Russia dictates the situation on the Azov and mainly uses it as a theater of military operations.

The Washington Post writes: "Despite all the attention of the international community focused on the concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine's land borders, if the invasion begins from the sea, Ukrainian forces will be largely powerless. They cannot legally take any action until the first Russian soldier sets foot on land."

Earlier, Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that construction of a new naval base at the Azov port of Berdyansk will be accelerated in order to "repel Russian aggression in this region."

OSCE records military equipment

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission recorded convoys of Russian trucks and military equipment in Donbas.

Observers recorded a convoy of seven trucks with Russian license plates and the words "humanitarian aid" on the outskirts of the city of Makiivka.

The trucks were escorted by three cars and an ambulance, all bearing signs of the terrorist group "DPR." Observers then recorded that this convoy entered the territory of a warehouse near Donetsk, where cardboard boxes were unloaded from the trucks.

Observers also recorded a convoy of three trucks with Russian license plates and similar "humanitarian aid" signs on the outskirts of Luhansk. The trucks were escorted by two cars and an ambulance, all bearing signs of the "LPR" terrorists.

On December 21-22, SMM OSCE observers recorded the deployment of six units of military equipment in the temporarily occupied territory. Four tanks were found at a training ground near a settlement in Donetsk Oblast. Two more armored combat vehicles were spotted near the village of Bohdanivka in Luhansk Oblast.

Russia "does not attack first"

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is allegedly being accused without grounds of preparing an invasion.

Peskov was asked, in the context of the buildup of military equipment and troops at the borders with Ukraine, whether Russia is calculating its steps ahead. In response, he said that "Russia has never attacked anyone first."

Thus, Moscow once again rejected information from the West and Ukraine that the Russian army may be preparing for an invasion and large-scale military action.

"Putin wants to destroy Ukraine"

National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov believes there is no serious risk of a large-scale Russian invasion, but Vladimir Putin's unchanged goal is the destruction of Ukraine.

According to estimates from official Kyiv, since October the number of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine has grown from 93,000 to 104,000. Danilov believes this is not a major increase.

He acknowledged that Ukrainian authorities do not want to "scare people" with talk of war, since this destabilizes the situation within the country, which may play into Putin's hands. However, he noted that Putin wants to destroy Ukraine.

Oleksii Danilov
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council

Will he succeed? No. Our citizens will defend our country. They (the enemies — ed.) want to tear our country apart so that it ceases to exist within its current borders.

Danilov said that at present, in its efforts to destabilize Ukraine from within, the Kremlin is resorting to cyberattacks and deepening the energy crisis. He believes that destabilization is Putin's main goal.