Russia Is Preparing For Ukraine To Liberate Crimea: Defense Intelligence

Ukrainian intelligence suggests that authorities in the Russian-occupied region of Crimea have started preparations for a possible Ukrainian military operation to liberate the Ukrainian peninsula.

According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, they have obtained a document issued by the Russian authorities in Crimea and the local office of the Russian Federal Security Office (FSB), stating that it raised "a high (yellow) level of terrorist danger."

Pravda reported, citing the Ukrainian intelligence, that the Russian occupation administration placed the Crimean settlements of Armiansk, Dzhankoi, Kerch, Krasnoperekopsk, and the districts of Dzhankoi, Krasnoperekopsk, and Lenine in a high level of threat, amidst the possible Ukrainian operation to reclaim Crimea.

The Russian authorities also reportedly placed a high threat in the subordinate facilities of the Ministries of Transport, Housing and Communal Services, Health, Fuel and Energy, Industrial Policy, and the Committee on Water Management and Land Reclamation.

Ukrainian intelligence said the FSB unit in Crimea and the linear department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs had been ordered to strengthen control of transportation in the peninsula.

"The decision states that the units of the FSB of the Russian Federation operating in the Crimea and the linear department of the Ministry of the Russian Federation on transport must strengthen control over the movement of transport on the peninsula," according to the Ukrainian intelligence.

"The control over the movement of Russian citizens and foreigners and the mandatory registration of temporary residence is enhanced."

The Ministry of Emergency Situations and local administrations were also ordered to prepare for "rescue operations" and establish "temporary accommodation of people."

Likewise, the Ministry of Health has also begun preparing medical facilities for emergency care and medical evacuation.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk convened an inter-ministerial meeting with different departments to prepare a personnel reserve for Crimea.

Vereshchuk argued that it is the right time to begin training personnel to be deployed in Crimea, citing that a military operation to liberate the Russian-occupied region is likely to happen soon.

"Given the inevitability of the de-occupation of Crimea, a number of the Government's Plan provisions need to be updated to reflect current realities," Vereshchuk said, according to New Voice of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Deputy Minister said law enforcement officers, justice workers, educators, and other civil servants are needed in Crimea in the event of the peninsula's liberation from Russia.

Vereshchuk added that Ukraine would hold Russian occupiers in Crimea accountable under the law. She also stated that the Crimean properties seized by Russians would be returned to their rightful owners.

Ukraine's move to prepare its government personnel for possible deployment in Crimea shows it is unfazed by an assessment made by Pentagon that Ukrainian forces are unlikely to recapture the occupied region anytime soon.

Four senior officials of the Department of Defense told the House Armed Services Committee members in a classified briefing that an operation to retake Crimea would be very difficult.

Even Croatia, a NATO country, believes Crimea "will never again be part of Ukraine."