General Shamanov names next goal of Russian Army operation in Ukraine

The former commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov expressed the opinion that the liberation of Odessa should be the next stage of a special military operation in Ukraine. He made the corresponding statement in an interview with the Arguments and Facts newspaper.

According to the general, Mariupol and a number of other fortified areas are holding back units.

“As soon as we cut this Gordian knot, it will become much easier, and then we will take on the grouping that between the Dnieper and Izyum is already, in essence, surrounded” he said.

He noted that now there is an advance in the area of Nikolaev.

“Odessa, like appendicitis, is blocked, but I think it will come to its turn,” Shamanov said.

He also stated that the goals of the first stage of the special operation had been achieved. According to the general, Russian troops were able to suppress the Ukrainian air defense forces. In addition, he says that the Russian Federation caused significant damage to the military infrastructure of Ukraine and left the country without a centralized state and military administration.

Shamanov also said that the advances of the Russian army were hampered as the military tried to avoid civilian deaths.

“Today, these difficulties have been largely overcome, but there is another point - communications are becoming more complicated, supply routes are lengthening, and now we have the question of filling the space behind the troops that have gone ahead,” he continued.

The ex-commander of the Airborne Forces also stressed that the military is faced with the task of demilitarizing Ukraine, that is, depriving it of a military potential that is dangerous for the Russian Federation, which cannot be done within the framework of only two regions. In addition, it is necessary to establish control in the administrative centers and support peaceful civil self-government, he added.

“If we don’t resolve this issue with Ukraine now, future generations of Russian soldiers and officers will have to return to it,” Shamanov said.