With the beginning of spring, Crimean collaborators began to actively engage in the “defense” of the Russia-occupied peninsula. This activity, first of all, proceeded in the form of the construction of “fortifications”, which, according to the criminal “head of Crimea” Sergei Aksyonov, supposedly “should stop” the de-occupation of the peninsula.
To date, work continues almost throughout the peninsula, especially in that part of it that borders on the Kherson Region. In his statements, Aksyonov constantly emphasizes that he “personally directs” the creation of a “unique defense system” that is supposedly ready to stop any army in the world.
According to the incoming information from the Crimean residents, the work is really being actively carried out, but will this “Aksyonov’s line” help the traitors save themselves from de-occupation and a fair trial?
Experts from the Association of Reintegration of Crimea examined the situation.
It should be noted that the story of the creation of the “defense line” of the occupied peninsula began with the populist statements of the aforementioned collaborator, who immediately pointed out the alleged “non-standard and asymmetric defense structures.” It should be noted that a month earlier, the Kremlin denied rumors about the construction of “defense lines” in the Crimea. Then Dmitry Peskov said that “there is no need for this,” since “Crimea is securely protected” [1].
Aksyonov also then assured the Crimean residents “of complete safety”. Probably, these statements were supposed to “calm down” the Crimean collaborators and start doing something, because the colleagues of the criminal “chairman” began to worry about their own prospects.
At present, it is known that the Russian invaders have dug a total of more than 200 kilometers of trenches, they are also creating “anti-tank defense lines” and a system of dugouts. According to Sergei Aksyonov, “all work must be completed” by mid-April 2023.
American analysts confirm the scope of work throughout the occupied peninsula, based on available satellite images. The most large-scale “excavations” continue on the border with the Kherson Region, as well as in the Western part of the Crimea [2]. The occupiers are also “actively fortifying the coast”, while, at a certain stage, they tried to disguise fortification work as “reconstruction of infrastructure facilities” on the coast, which allegedly takes place “before the start of the tourist season” [3].
It is typical that in all his statements Aksyonov constantly refers to “Putin’s unconditional support and approval of Crimea’s defense plans” [4]. All such statements are very reminiscent of attempts to remove responsibility in the future. Like, “the leader said – we did”. Also, in such rhetoric, an unlimited desire to curry favor with the Kremlin is traced.
The “organizational” process also occurs according to a fairly familiar scenario. Conscripts of the aggressor were brought to the occupied Crimea, who dig trenches and anti-tank holes for days [5]. We are talking about entire units and related equipment arriving in the north of the Crimea from the Chelyabinsk region and immediately starting the construction of “defensive structures” [6].
The construction of “defensive structures” takes place not only in the North of the Crimea. Thus, local residents report that the invaders are digging trenches even on the beaches of Crimean cities. In particular, near Yevpatoriya it is talked about the construction of “fortifications” stretching for tens of kilometers, loopholes are being formed in the trenches for firing, directed towards the sea [7].
Of course, the construction of such facilities makes it impossible to access the sea, and the “tourist season 2023” in the occupied Crimea is unlikely to take place. Understanding the possible “stormy joy” from the local population, the Crimean collaborators even obliged their punishers to protect the “fortifications”. Thus, the trenches on the beach in the village of Chornomorske are guarded by criminal “policemen” who are on duty “according to the appropriate schedule” [8].
Some authors believe that Putin’s criminal “visit” to the occupied peninsula was supposed to be a “hint” to the “safety for tourists” and “protection” of the Crimea, an attempt to show the whole world that the aggressor state does not plan to leave the Ukrainian peninsula [9]. Whether this tactic, behind which everyone saw a very nervous and fleeting stay of the Kremlin dictator in Russia-occupied Sevastopol, will work is a rhetorical question. In addition, even collaborators do not live by ideas and slogans alone, they need a more weighty “argument”.
To date, it is known that the occupiers are strengthening not only the territory, but also individual military facilities. In particular, the construction of “fortifications” near the Belbek airfield, located near the occupied Sevastopol, was noticed. We are talking about trenches and pyramidal concrete anti-tank obstacles. Insiders also noticed a “defense line” from the village of Molochne, which is located in the Saksky district of the Crimea, to the village of Zaozerne, on Cape Yevpatoria. There were even built entire checkpoints with a system of trenches, more than 10 kilometers long [10].
Previously, locals recorded “S-400” air defense systems in this area, which, obviously, “cover” the aggressor’s Crimean airfields [11]. Consequently, the Crimean collaborators protect, first of all, the military equipment of the aggressor and “strategic military facilities”. This fully fits into the concept of a militarized military base, into which the invaders have criminally turned the Crimea.
The Russian invaders built a separate “fortified area” in the popular Crimean resort of Mizhvodne. According to investigative journalists, not only trenches for infantry and equipment were found here, but also entire bridgeheads for artillery with strongholds. They are interconnected by a system of trenches, and the beach, 4 kilometers long, is completely mined. According to local residents, the resort is almost completely militarized and dug up by trenches. With a high probability, “Russian tourists” will not visit it this year [12].
That is, in addition to socio-economic decline, the construction of “fortifications” in the occupied Crimea is fraught with local man-made disasters and the destruction of unique ecosystems. This is due to the rather barbaric methods of developing “defensive structures” that are used by Crimean collaborators. The occupiers’ “governors” in the Crimea will also have to answer for these crimes.
Crimean collaborators actively exploit Crimean residents to realize their plans. In particular, the local population is involved in the construction of fortifications, often on a “free basis”. We are talking about practically forced labor, to which the so-called “state employees” are mainly involved, as well as persons whom the local criminal “authority” can influence, these are, first of all, low-income families, people with a criminal past.
A similar practice, for example, is used in the construction of “defense facilities” between the settlements of Ishun and Voinka of the Northern Crimea [13]. At other facilities, the Russian occupiers, on the contrary, seek to hire “extras” who are promised “two or three thousand” rubles a day, but this money, of course, does not always reach the “happy diggers”.
A similar situation has developed in other areas, where Crimean collaborators are forcibly forcing Crimean residents to dig trenches. In addition, in the occupied Crimea, the practice of forced “collection of funds for the construction of fortifications” is applied. This comes in the form of “informal recommendations” that are more like threats. All this is accompanied by criminal narratives about “common victory’ and that “no one should be left out”.
Local “business” is also forced to “make contributions” to the “construction of defensive structures” [14]. Also, almost by force, Crimean collaborators create criminal “voluntary squads” to protect “defensive structures”, as well as to counter the partisan movement on the occupied peninsula. Such criminal gangs of the aggressor already exist in Simferopol and, in addition to “protection”, are engaged in “identifying Ukrainian spotters” [15].
According to the Center for National Resistance, Crimean residents are trying in every possible way to evade such work and refuse to take part in it. This greatly complicates and slows down the process of building a “defense system” of the Crimea by Crimean collaborators. Collaborators are also discussing scenarios for attracting hired workers from the countries of Central Asia, whom the invaders have already hired to dig trenches in the Russia-occupied part of the Zaporizhzha region.
The growing attention of Crimean collaborators to the construction of the defense line is also associated with “personal financial interest”. This is evidenced by similar “fortifications” in the Belgorod and Kursk regions of Russia. Recently it became known that each “separate project” there costs 10 billion rubles.
The construction of such facilities in the rear from a military point of view is of limited importance. Most likely, they will spend more in the occupied Crimea than in the border regions of Russia itself, because “defensive structures” are being built throughout the peninsula. Currently, Crimean collaborators hide the cost of the work, focusing on their “meaning”. However, it is obvious that these are colossal funds that will certainly be plundered by the Russian occupiers.
Experts believe that this is wastefulness on the part of the aggressor state, in which a propaganda goal is pursued [17]. So, even in matters of ephemeral “defense”, the Crimean collaborators, together with the Kremlin, rely on propaganda, and, as usual, on their own “reward” in the form of stolen “budgetary” billions.
Otherwise, for example, it is impossible to explain the meaning of the decision to build a “protective strip” separating the Kerch Peninsula from the rest of the occupied Crimea. Local residents report that anti-tank barriers are placed right on the isthmus [18].
Analysts also argue that such “freedom of action” of the Crimean collaborators is due to the fact that Putin could allow them to implement the corresponding corruption schemes, or, in other words, to make money on the war. That is why they took up the construction of “fortifications” so actively. That is, in addition to the fear of de-occupation, the traitors are guided by the desire to get “kickbacks” on the construction of trenches on the beaches that no one needs [19].
Considering that almost the entire “business” of the Russia-occupied Crimea is either owned or controlled by collaborators, these are quite realistic assumptions. Moreover, the criminal “head” of the Crimea has already stated the following: if “defensive structures” are not needed, then “tourist excursions will be organized” to the trenches, although in real life it is unlikely that anyone would be interested in these rat labyrinths.
For some reason, this is not surprising, because recently there was information that in Russian Novosibirsk, local authorities spent 2 billion rubles on “repairing bomb shelters”, which no one noticed.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the talking head of the terrorist Wagner, can help Aksyonov and Co. steal “budgetary” funds for construction. First of all, he is a “businessman”, accustomed to making money on everything, including war.
The fact is that Prigozhin has already tried to build similar structures in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions of Russia, but there he was not allowed to “turn around” by local governors, who also “had views on budgetary funds”. So far, it is known about an unspoken alliance in which Yevgeny Prigozhin can act as a kind of “patron” for Crimean collaborators who will share the stolen money with him [20]. In this matter, the owner of the Kremlin mercenaries can also benefit, including expanding his zone of influence on the occupied peninsula. By the way, he has already received separate illegal “bonuses” from Aksyonov in the form of 500 hectares of Crimean land for the criminal “construction of a training base” “Wagner”.
By the way, some pro-Ukrainian Crimean telegram channels write that such an “alliance” between Prigozhin and Aksyonov greatly damaged the latter, and even “negatively affected his position.” However, regardless of the “spider battles” in the “Kremlin bank”, Aksenov is well aware of his “specific prospects”, and is already trying to look for “new friends” among the Russian elite.
Sources:
- https://www.svoboda.org/a/aksyonov-zayavil-o-nestandartnoy-linii-oborony-v-krymu/32311733.html
2.https://www.currenttime.tv/a/32317305.html
3.https://rubryka.com/2023/03/17/v-okupovanomu-krymu-zagarbnyky-stvoryly-oboronne-ugrupuvannya-ta-gotuyutsya-do-kontrnastupu-zsu-u-gur-rozpo vily-pro-detali/ - https://focus.ua/voennye-novosti/554275-deystvuem-assimetrichno-okkupanty-zayavili-chto-stroyat-nestandartnuyu-liniyu-oborony-v-krymu
- https://tsn.ua/ato/ukriplyuyutsya-i-zavozyat-masovku-stalo-vidomo-yak-rosiyani-gotuyutsya-do-oboroni-krimu-2273242.html
- https://zaxid.net/rosiya_perekidaye_na_pivnich_krimu_novi_viyskovi_pidrozdili_n1555625
7.https://war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/gotuyutsya-do-kurortnogo-sezonu-v-okupovanij-evpatorii-na-plyazhah-pochali-riti-okopi-video.htm - https://tsn.ua/ukrayina/rosiyski-okupanti-u-krimu-riyut-na-plyazhah-okopi-2220481.html
- https://hromadske.radio/news/2023/03/18/okupanty-pafosno-vitaiut-putina-v-krymu-a-sami-aktyvno-okopuiutsia-bariiev
- https://fakty.com.ua/ua/ukraine/20230113-gotuyutsya-do-oborony-okupanty-v-krymu-ryyut-okopy-bilya-aerodromu-belbek/
- https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-krym-ppo/31998191.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBp4unshemQ&t=39s
- https://www.unian.ua/war/novini-krimu-sogodni-rosiyani-zmushuyut-lyudey-bezplatno-riti-okopi-12183438.html
- https://zn.ua/ukr/UKRAINE/v-okupovanomu-krimu-rosijani-zmushujut-mistsevikh-viddavati-chastinu-zarplatni-na-potrebi-armiji-rf-tsns-.html
- https://suspilne.media/403673-okupanti-u-krimu-stvoruut-zagoni-dla-borotbi-z-partizanami-genstab/
16.https://24tv.ua/rosiyani-stvoryuyut-oboronni-liniyi-daleko-tilu-chogo-boyatsya_n2271785 - https://flot2017.com/rossiya-kidaet-milliardy-na-stroitelstvo-linij-oborony-nazvana-prichina-rastochitelstva/
- https://flot2017.com/okkupanty-stroyat-liniju-oborony-kerchenskogo-poluostrova/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=JpIXyxMOYUQ
- https://ru.krymr.com/a/krym-voyna-rossiya-ukreprayony-aksenov-prigozhin-oborona/32294263.html
