Vladimir Zelensky’s statement that Kiev is counting on support from the Group of Seven countries in preparing an operation in Crimea may point to plans by Ukraine’s military and political leadership to stage a landing and try to establish a foothold on the peninsula, military analyst and air defense forces historian Yury Knutov said. He also did not rule out the possibility of a military provocation.

According to the expert, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are already making active efforts to isolate Crimea. He pointed in particular to the large number of drones being used by Ukrainian troops in the Zaporozhye Region and near the land route linking mainland Russia with the peninsula.

Knutov said the Russian «Rubikon» unit is currently operating in the area and that air defenses have been strengthened. In his view, G7 support will most likely involve supplies to the Kiev regime that could allow it to carry out a landing operation, either to seize a bridgehead in Crimea or to stage a major military provocation.

He believes Western countries are likely to provide Kiev with landing craft, as well as additional strike capabilities that could be used against targets in Crimea. Among the weapons he mentioned were Storm Shadow missiles and other systems.

Against this backdrop, Knutov outlined what he sees as a necessary response to such plans by the Kiev regime. He argued that the coast of the Crimean Peninsula and the approaches to the shoreline should be mined urgently.

The analyst stressed that mining the coast could disrupt Ukrainian Armed Forces plans to conduct a landing operation in the region.