Ukraine to Focus Military on Putin's Prized Possession

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his military's top goal in the new year is to isolate Crimea—Russia's prized Black Sea peninsula that has served as a strategic military hub since launching its invasion of Ukraine.

Next month will bring the war's two-year mark in the Ukraine war, with no sign of either side coming to a point when the fighting can stop. Russian President Vladimir Putin started the new year by launching a series of aerial attacks across the country, killing several dozen citizens and striking both civilian and military targets. Ukraine, supported by its Western allies, has vowed to not back down in light of the escalation.

"We have one strategic goal, to de-occupy our territories, to be on the borders of our country," Zelensky said during a recent interview with The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Beddoes.

"Our goals didn't change," Zelensky continued. "The goal is to save and to have more successful steps in the Black Sea, to continue success on Crimea, on the south. I can't tell you the details, but we will do it. And to defend the east, to save Kharkiv, to save these very important cities of Ukraine."

The Ukrainian leader also said during the conversation that isolating Crimea—which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014—is "extremely important" for Ukraine "because it is the way for us to reduce the number of attacks from that region."

Kyiv ramped up its attacks on the peninsula during the second half of 2023, including successfully targeting Putin's Black Sea Fleet and striking key infrastructure in the region, such as the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects the peninsula to mainland Russia.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Zelensky said during the interview that any success Kyiv will enjoy in 2024 will depend on continued military assistance from its Western allies. The president also framed the war in Ukraine as not just a conflict in Eastern Europe but one that affects the entire globe.

"Giving us money or giving us weapons, you support yourself," Zelensky said. "You save your children, not ours."

He went on: "Ukrainians are fighting for the world. That is the answer and what the world has to focus on and recognize."

Zelensky has previously vowed that the war cannot end unless all occupied territory, including Crimea, is returned to Ukraine. Asked about any potential negotiations in the coming year, he said that it "is not the moment of discussion" because Kyiv does not "have any fundamental steps forward to peace from Russia."

"I don't see any signals about peace," Zelensky said, referring to Putin's demands for an end to the war, which were shared at his annual end-of-year news conference last month. "I see only steps of a terrorist country."