JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Russia Is Preparing Crimea for Ukraine’s Counteroffensive” – Newsweek
“Russian troops in occupied Crimea are reportedly preparing for Kyiv’s expected spring counteroffensive …. Russian units all along the 800-mile front have been preparing new defensive positions for several months, awaiting Ukraine’s next counter push, while their comrades grind forward in bloody offensives in the eastern Donetsk region. Kyiv is hoping to maximize Russian losses in the defense, exhausting Moscow’s units before punching through their lines on the offense with the help of new NATO heavy armor and fresh alliance-trained troops. … Crimea is, and will remain, a key Ukrainian war goal. Its occupation by Russian ‘little green men’ in 2014 marked a new, hot phase of Moscow’s long-running effort to control Ukraine. … Ukrainian leaders have consistently said they intend to fully liberate the peninsula. …”