Russians are fleeing Crimea in their droves as there is “panic and fear” that the Ukrainian armed forces will attack the annexed peninsula in the “near future.”
Vladimir Putin attacked Crimea and then illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014, and Ukraine has vowed that they will take back their territory and will liberate the Black Sea.
Emil Ibragimov, the head of the Crimean project and educational platform Q-Hub, told Radio NV, that “We saw a video and, according to the locals, many people left Crimea after strikes by the [Ukrainian] Armed Forces.
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“And we know about the relocation of local occupiers or occupier officials to the Krasnodar region of Russia, where they are currently renting apartments, moving there to live.”
He added, “That is, we see this trend and can conclude that this is, of course, panic and fear that the [Ukraine] Armed Forces will be able to liberate Crimea in the near future.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “This war, which began with Russia’s occupation of our Crimea, with an attempt to seize Donbas, must end precisely there—in the liberated Crimea, in the liberated cities of Donbas, with our troops reaching the state border of Ukraine.
“We have always kept this goal in mind. We do not forget about it.”
“This will happen.
“This is ours. And just as our society understands it, I want the occupiers to understand it, too.
“There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land… The occupiers should know: we will oust them to the border.
“To our border, the line of which has not changed. The invaders know it well.”
He then warned that Russian troops will have to flee or surrender “if they want to survive.”
