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As the war in Ukraine is about to head into its sixth month, the ferocity with which it is fought shows no signs of abating – neither on the battlefield, nor in the rhetoric emerging from Moscow and Kyiv.
Russian attacks continue to target Ukrainian cities such as Vinnytsia in western Ukraine that are far away from the front lines and those like Mykolaiv and Odesa that are of high strategic value in the battle over control of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.
Meanwhile, the battle over Donbas has further intensified. Russia is currently regrouping its forces to capture the remainder of Ukrainian-held territory in the Donetsk region.
While Russia has steadily gained ground in the east, Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in May to regain control of the southern region of Kherson which is critical to Russia securing a land corridor to Crimea. Having re-captured more than 40 villages since the start of the campaign, Ukraine appears to now have some momentum on this frontline.
Buoyed by advanced western weapons systems, especially the US-supplied Himars, Kyiv has been able to target Russian command posts, storage depots, and supply lines at greater distance and with higher precision.
The prospect of deploying Himars to support the counteroffensive in Kherson prompted former Russia president Dmitry Medvedev to threaten “judgement day” should Ukraine strike targets in Crimea. The peninsula, home to Russia’s black Sea fleet, was annexed by Moscow back in 2014 and has been extremely important in Russia’s war effort since February, especially as a launchpad for ground operations in the east, including the siege of Mariupol. More recently, the Kremlin has also used Crimea as a hub for the export of stolen Ukrainian grain.
Russia has repeatedly threatened doomsday scenarios of this kind. These were usually aimed at Nato, initially at weapons and ammunitions supplies, then at troop deployments.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-why-moscow-could-go-nuclear-over-kyivs-threats-to-crimea-187188