The Total LIBERATION of Crimea Has Begun

Russia's full -scale war with Ukraine may have begun in 2022, but the conflict between the two countries actually dates back much further, to 2014 to be precise.

It was then that Russian forces carried out the illegal annexation of Crimea, stealing an entire region away from their neighbor over the span of just under four weeks.

Ever since, Kiev's officials, military commanders, and the Ukrainian people at large have been desperate to someday see the complete recapture and total de -Russification of Crimea.At long last, their wait may be coming to an end, and there's little that Russian President Vladimir Putin can do to stop it.

And this certainly isn't what Putin would have expected when he claimed Crimea as part of Russia over a decade ago.Unlike his so -called Special Military Operation of 2022, which has turned into a long, drawn -out, and remarkably expensive affair, the annexation of Crimea actually went rather smoothly for Putin.

he took advantage of a brief period of political chaos in Kiev to seize the region, deploying elite personnel in unmarked uniforms to cause confusion and delay any sort of Ukrainian military response.Making the most of Russia's pre -existing military facilities in places like Sevastopol, Putin's forces swiftly seized control of Crimea's parliament, key infrastructure, and communication hubs.It was an operation that was both carefully planned and quite flawlessly executed.and it resulted in Russia taking control of a highly strategic location, a location that's been described by Putin himself as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.It's only through Crimea, after all, and its port city of Sevastopol, that Russia can control the Black Sea and project power both into the Mediterranean and in even as far as the Middle East.

Whoever owns Crimea also enjoys influence over the various trade routes across the Black Sea, and it's worth noting that the surrounding waters are rich in natural resources like oil and gas.In short, it's an extremely valuable territory to control.and Russia took full advantage of that control when preparing for the full -scale invasion in 2022.It funneled troops, munitions, and military equipment into the peninsula, which it then used to bombard Ukraine's southern regions.Since then, over the course of the conflict, Russia has continued to rely on Crimea as a military launch pad.It's fired countless missiles and drones on Ukrainian towns, cities, and frontline positions from the peninsula.

while also using the famous Crimean Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland across the Kerch Strait, as a significant supply line.

But Russia has never been able to fully settle in Crimea and exert complete control over the region, because Ukraine hasn't allowed that to happen.From day one of the full -scale invasion, Ukraine's commanders made it clear that one of their long -term objectives was the liberation of the peninsula.

And it didn't take long at all for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to back up that statement with real action.Indeed, mere months into the war, the first attacks began, with Ukrainian drone crews targeting the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and explosions rocking the Crimean Bridge.

The message was clear.

Even while battling Russia along hundreds of miles of frontline territories in regions like Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson, Ukraine was determined to make Crimea as dangerous as possible for enemy forces to occupy.And as the months and years went by, the attacks continued.Warships were sunk at the Sevastopol naval base, storm shadow cruise missiles wiped Russian fortifications off the map, planes were set ablaze by kamikaze drones, and air defense systems were obliterated one by one.The Crimean bridge also continued to suffer, being struck for the second time in July of 2023 and then again in June 2025.Some of Ukraine's attacks on Crimea were relatively small.Others were positively devastating, like the iconic Operation Crab Trap, which saw a salvo of Storm Shadow missiles launched directly at the Russian Black Sea

headquarters building in Sevastopol in September 2023, reportedly killing more than 30 officers and wounding over 100 additional servicemen.These attacks ensured that Russian forces were always on edge in and around Crimea, always wary that more drones or missiles might be on their way at any moment.

But Ukraine was rarely truly able to go all the way in Crimea, get troops on the ground there, or actually reclaim some of its lost land.It always had other priorities, other contested territories to attend to, other towns and cities to defend, other Russian assaults to worry about.

It couldn't make the mistake of devoting too much time, resources, or manpower to Crimea, as that could open up weaknesses in key areas along the front lines, giving Russia the chance to push through and claim valuable ground.

So Ukraine patiently bided its time.

It continued to plan and execute successful attacks on Crimea.It wiped out important assets like air defense systems, radars, aircraft, and ammunition stockpiles.But sometimes, several weeks or months would pass in between each attack, as Ukrainian forces had to prioritize other areas.As a result, these incidents may have seemed like isolated or even random strikes.

But they weren't.They were all part of a larger strategy and all contributed to the ultimate end goal, the de -Russification of the Crimean Peninsula.

Each attack weakened the Russians' position.

Each strike lessened their influence over the region and made it more difficult for them to defend.So that when the time came for Ukraine to finally hammer home its advantage, the enemy would have no way to stop it.And it seems as though that time is drawing near, as 2026 has seen a major shift in momentum.Now, Ukraine is arguably in its strongest ever position.Its domestic defense industry is going from strength to strength, with literally hundreds of new defense contractors across the country working feverishly on exciting new innovations.

from drones and missiles to air defense technologies and much more.On the ground, Kiev's forces have also enjoyed major successes, not just managing to hold off Russia's relentless assaults and prevent them from gaining ground, but even managing to recapture relatively large amounts of lost land too.

Indeed, February 2026 was a massive month for the Ukrainian army, as it was the first time since 2023 that the country's forces actually managed to retake more land than they lost.On top of this, Ukraine is soon expected to enjoy a game -changing €90 billion, $105 billion loan from the European Union.This loan had been blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

But with Orban's rule finally coming to a close after a crushing defeat in the April 12 parliamentary elections, Ukraine is set to receive the huge influx of funds it needs to bolster its forces, power up its defense industry even further, and procure the munitions and supplies it requires to keep piling pressure on its enemies.

Russia, meanwhile, has never looked weaker.With the political defeat of Orban, for example, Putin has lost one of the only allies he had within both the NATO alliance and the European Union.that massively weakens his political influence.

Russian forces are also moving at their slowest rate in years.

In some frontline areas, they're at a complete standstill, or even being pushed back by Ukrainian defenders.In others, they're still advancing, but moving so slowly that it barely makes a difference at all.The Kremlin's army also continues to hemorrhage both soldiers and equipment at an alarming rate.

Tens of thousands of troops are either being killed or severely wounded every month.

Thousands are also deserting or waving the white flag, and even those who willingly go along with their commanding officer's orders are lucky to last even a couple of weeks in frontline kill zones before having to be replaced with new recruits.And speaking of new recruits, it's now well documented that Russia is having increasingly tough timesfinding enough of them.Its recruitment statistics are way down, while its casualty rate is climbing.And throughout the first quarter of 2026, it was consistently unable to bring in enough new soldiers to replace those that had been killed or wounded.Its army is getting smaller and weaker, and so are its prospects in this war.

All the talk about an inevitable Russian victory is slowly but surely fading away as experts and analysts across the globe, including some of Russia's own hardline military bloggers, realize that the tide has turned.It's Ukraine, not Russia, that's in the ascendancy.

And Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who served in the United States Army for nearly 40 years and rose to the rank of commanding general, United States Army Europe, believes that this is the time for Kiev's forces to kick things up a gear in Crimea.But before we explore what he said, and what it all means, if this is the kind of insight you want more of, make sure you're subscribed to The Military Show.We break it down like this every week.Now, Lieutenant General Hodges recently appeared on the Times Radio podcast, Frontline, The War in Ukraine and Global Security, which features analysts and experts discussing the Russia -Ukraine war and sharing their insights and predictions on what might happen next.

During his appearance on the show, Hodges shared his view that, despite all the fighting and focus elsewhere, Crimea is arguably the key to this entire war.

I still believe, as I did since the beginning, that Crimea is the decisive terrain of the war.He explains that the peninsula has both symbolic and strategic value for both sides.

Putin, for example, has consistently argued that the region should rightfully belong to Russia, and has gone as far as calling it a sacred place and an inseparable part of Russia.The Russian leader is also well aware of the peninsula's strategic value, with Hodges noting, the ability to project power across the Black Sea really comes from Crimea.

He goes on to note that if Ukraine were able to recapture the Black Sea,and regain control of its ports and airfields, it could change the face of this war entirely.Hodges notes that the likes of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country's Commander -in -Chief, Oleksandr Sersky, will be well aware of the region's value and will no doubt have Crimea near the top of their objective list.

While he believes that a direct ground assault in the region won't happen yet, and isn't really necessary at the moment, he expects more sustained attacks against airfields, air defenses, and other targets.He also believes that the Crimean bridge's days are numbered, stating in no uncertain terms, that big bridge is eventually going to come down.that would be a monumental moment for Ukraine.Even though Russia has effectively established a land bridge to Crimea by occupying enough of Ukraine's southern territories, it still relies heavily on the Crimean bridge itself, and the Kerch Strait in general, to safely transport vital supplies like fuel, weapons, and ammunition to forces stationed on the peninsula and southern regions.If that bridge were to fall, it would change the game entirely.All of a sudden, all the Russian troops remaining in Crimea would be cut off from their countrymen.

They would no longer have the comfort of that safe escape route back to the mainland, nor would they be able to enjoy a steady and uninterrupted flow of supplies from Krasnodar Krai.It would also be an enormous embarrassment for the Kremlin to see this structure, which cost Russia almost $4 billion to build, wiped off the map.And Ukraine has already proven it can successfully target the bridge.It's done so on three separate occasions, using a mixture of drones and underwater explosives to damage the structure and force it to shut down temporarily while repairs take place.Ukraine is even stronger today than it was in years gone by, with more powerful drones and missiles that could potentially send entire sections of the bridge crumbling into the waters below.It's not beyond the realms of possibility that a fourth Crimean bridge attack could already be in the preparatory stage.

In the meantime, Ukraine is already upping the ante, with its latest attacks on the peninsula wiping out yet more of its important assets in that region.On the night of April 5, for example, Ukraine's defense intelligence confirmed that special units from the Department of Active Operations used drones to disable the Russian railway ferry Slavyanin.This was the last railway ferry operating across the Kerch Strait.Those ferries had been delivering the likes of military equipment and ammunition across the water to Russian forces in Crimea.But with all of these vessels now having been destroyed, damaged, or otherwise disabled, Russia will inevitably find it more difficult to get resources from point A to point B. It will most likely have to use the Crimean bridge more regularly, which would make it an even more valuable target for Ukraine to take out.Alternatively, the Kremlin's commanders could choose to funnel supplies across the occupied Donbass territories and down into Crimea via the Kherson region.

However, the trouble with that plan is that those routes are much closer to the frontline fighting, and therefore much more at risk of Ukrainian drone strikes, missiles, or even artillery attacks.With Kiev's drones always in the air, scanning the surroundings for any sign of Russian activity, it wouldn't necessarily take too long for them to hone in on any convoys headed towards the peninsula.

And from there, it would be just a matter of time until strike drones or missiles are dispatched to take them out.And Ukraine is already concentrating its efforts on disrupting those land -based supply lines.Over the course of a week -long campaign in April, It carried out several successful strikes along a critical land corridor linking Russia and Crimea.

Three Russian arsenals and three separate supply depots were targeted and damaged, with Ukrainian forces also attacking two logistic hubs that helped to coordinate the flow of supplies along the corridor.On April 20, reports also emerged of Ukrainian defense forces carrying out additional strikes on two of Russia's large landing ships stationed in Savannah.Bay.The two ships were later identified as the Project 775 Yamal and the Project 117 Nikolai Filchenkov.The Yamal was capable of transporting up to 500 tons of cargo, including armored vehicles and troops, and is valued at over $80 million.The Nikolai Fulchenkov, meanwhile, is even bigger, with a maximum capacity of around 1 ,000 tons, giving it the ability to ferry quite a large landing force across the water.

Despite being the larger of the two vessels, it's also older and not quite as expensive, but still valued at around $70 million.These attacks, combined with a strike on the last Kerch Strait ferry, send a clear message.Ukraine is severing Russia's supply lines to Crimea.Bit by bit, it's isolating the region, making it harder and harder for the Kremlin's troops to get the fuel and munitions they need to defend themselves.In taking out the likes of landing ships, Ukraine is also preventing Russia from building up a bigger force on the peninsula.This is so important because in the past, even if Ukraine was able to eliminate a Russian air defense system or other asset on Crimea, the enemy could always simply replace what it had lost.

If Kiev's drones wiped out an ammunition stockpile, for example, Russian forces could just load up ammo from other regions and ferry it across the strait or over the Crimean bridge.

But with the supply lines being cut and pressured, that will no longer be possible.Looking at the bigger picture, this could be the start of something much larger.If Ukraine is able to isolate Crimea, then any Russian forces left over on the peninsula would essentially become sitting ducks.And with Ukraine's drones and missiles getting better and more accurate with each passing year, the defense forces would have little trouble eliminating the remaining troops.In turn, the Kremlin's control over the region would rapidly diminish, and if Ukraine could eventually forge a pathway through Kherson, it could exploit its enemy's weakness and someday send its own soldiers in to recapture the area.That may seem like a long way off,

but all the pieces are already in position, and Ukraine's military is making all the right moves to finally bring its de -Russification vision to fruition.And with the Kremlin facing rising casualty rates, devastating equipment losses, stalling frontline assaults, and flailing recruitment campaigns, it no longer has the means to fortify Crimea as strongly and solidly as it did in the past.So, if Ukraine can even exert partial control over the region, everything would change.Russia's Black Sea fleet, which has already been forced into hiding by Ukraine's drone strikes, would become an irrelevance, as it would no longer be able to safely use Sevastopol as its home base.The Kremlin would also lose power projection capabilities and influence across the Black Sea and beyond.Then, in the long term, if Ukraine is eventually able to fulfill its long -held dream of becoming part of the European Union or the NATO alliance, Russia's fear of power will decrease even further.

It would represent an astonishing turnaround from 2014.

Back then, after such a speedy and efficient takeover operation, Putin thought he'd secured Crimea as part of Russia for generations to come.

Now he's finding out how terribly wrong he was.Now you can learn more about how Ukraine is turning the tide of the battle in this video, which explores how Kiev's forces recently liberated large swathes of land in occupied territories.

Or watch this video for in -depth analysis of how the once mighty Russian army has been brought to its knees.And finally, don't forget to subscribe to The Military Show too.for more insights, analysis and breaking news from the Russia -Ukraine war and other important conflicts across the world.