Russian forces in Crimea brace for possible Ukraine assault

By ADAM PEMBLE
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Moscow-appointed leader of Crimea says the region is on guard for what may be an impending Ukrainian counteroffensive. Sergei Aksyonov told reporters Tuesday that Russian forces in Crimea had built “modern, in-depth defenses” and had “more than enough” troops and equipment to repel a possible Ukrainian assault after 13 months of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion. His comments came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reaffirmed Kyiv’s intention to take back the Black Sea peninsula that Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Military analysts expect Kyiv to take advantage of improving weather to seize the battlefield initiative with new batches of Western weapons, including scores of tanks, and fresh troops trained in the West.