Former Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea: Russia Openly Prepares to War

The Russian Federation plans to hold large-scale strategic command post exercise Caucasus 2020 inthe end of September. Former Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea Boris Babin warnsagainst possible risks and threats for Ukraine.
‘Crimea represents a constant threat. We have a military conflict that can escalate in any location fromthe Danube mouth to Sumy Region. We cannot be 100% sure about the aggressor’s plans… Buthaving large numbers of troops stationed on the peninsula on a constant basis is rather problematic.Firstly, if there is a global conflict, they will become hostages there, because Crimea is good foradvance, not for defence, as history shows. Secondly, there is not enough water in Crimea to havelarge deployment of forces there. It is a semi-desert now. To give you an idea, their departmentallegal acts mention Crimea among the regions, where servicemen get additional payments because ofsemiarid climate’, the expert said.
Boris Babin notes that when it comes to military operations, dates, tactics, procedures and approachescan vary. ‘At the same time, Russia has been fully prepared for sabotage and hybrid activities since2015. Nothing keeps them from a hybrid operation’, he adds.
‘An army conducts exercises to get ready for military activity. It is axiomatic. If they are planningCaucasus 2020, they are preparing for military activity on this territory — Crimea and Caucasus. Theydo not even hide it. The question is, whether they are going to put it into practice. It is very importantto understand that just as in any other exercise, one can accumulate a great number of troops underthe guise of training and use them as one desires’, Borys Babin said.