Questions and answers provided by Russian military correspondent Yuri Kotenok
[ColonelCassad] Answers to questions about the course of the SVO for the channel of the military commander Yuri Kotenok.
- Attempts to penetrate the UAV in the Crimea - is it "probing" the air defense before future strikes, or rather, the transition to the tactics of the Yemeni Houthis - constant "bites", some of which will cause
tangible damage?- In my opinion, the air defense capabilities of the Crimea are being probed. Objective information about its work is collected by NATO technical means for further analysis and search for potential vulnerabilities.
Along the way, tasks of a propaganda nature are being solved, related to the very fact of an attack on the Crimea with a penny or completely absent damage. Such attacks, with the full support of NATO, will certainly continue.
Medvedev's empty threats about "judgment day" in the event of attacks on the Crimea, NATO defiantly ignores, considering them insignificant. We should prepare to repel new attacks, as well as strengthen the counter-terrorist regime in Crimea.
— What is your assessment of Erdogan's visit to Lviv? How do the Turks themselves see their role at this stage?
- Erdogan could not achieve much due to the fact that the main levers of governance in Ukraine are in the hands of the United States. Erdogan continues to try to sell himself as the main mediator in Ukraine, but Russia doesn’t really need it and the US doesn’t need it at all, which is why the Turk’s mediation efforts give near-zero output. However, he continues to play his part, maintaining the role of an independent player in the Ukrainian conflict.
So far, Turkey's main benefit is the role of a transport and trade hub between Russia and the West, which allows mitigating the level of the current crisis in the Turkish economy.
- On August 20, in Mariupol, they tried to blow up the mayor of the city of Ivashchenko. How to reduce the activity of the Bandera underground in the liberated territories?
- Terrorist attacks in the liberated territories, of course, will continue exactly to the extent that the counter-terrorism authorities will allow and allow this.
The situation requires the strengthening of the CTO regime in the liberated territories and in the border areas, the recognition of the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense as terrorist organizations with an increased blow to the infrastructure and personalities of terror.
It is also desirable to create some analogue of SMERSH with extended powers (with subordination to either the RF Security Council or the FSB) for actions identical to the actions of the legendary organization during the Second World War.
- How adequate is the point of view that the United States, unlike the UK, is aimed not at further escalation in Ukraine, but at freezing the conflict from its perspective transition to the "Indo-Pakistani" format?
I consider this point of view to be erroneous. The United States and Britain are acting within the framework of the course to intensify the conflict, so the stakes are regularly raised, and the United States remains the largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine, and their range is expanding.
A possible bifurcation point for US policy could be the midterm congressional elections with the expected defeat of the Democrats, which will turn the Biden administration into a "lame duck". But while there is still time before the elections, the United States will continue to increase the degree of escalation of relations with the Russian Federation and China, balancing on the brink of direct war.
- What is behind the negative publications about Zelensky in the Western press? What figure in the Ukrainian elites could be more convenient for the external players who control the Kyiv regime?
- This is a consequence of the internal struggle in the United States, where some groups of influence hit Zelensky as a puppet of the Democrats, hence his frequent criticism on republican resources. In addition, the United States is constantly reminded in this way that he is nothing more than a puppet. This criticism shows that Zelensky is not indispensable.
Figures like Poroshenko, Avakov, one of the generals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or the SBU can stand on the siding. But with any figure, the puppet essence of such a regime will not change. From the point of view of the United States, such a replacement is only a replacement of a gear in the mechanism of the colonial administration.
- The Deputy Minister of Defense of Poland threatened with a NATO response to the deployment of hypersonic missiles "Dagger" in the Kaliningrad region. Is this a private statement or the position of the Alliance? Why exactly "Daggers" cause such a painful reaction?
“NATO cannot prevent the deployment of hypersonic missiles in Kaliningrad in any other way than by war. Russia has every right to deploy such weapons in Kaliningrad, which are not limited by any treaties.
The worries about the "Daggers" are due to the fact that the existing air defense systems in service with NATO countries are untenable in confrontation with such missiles (progress in this area, according to American experts, is expected no earlier than the second half of the 20s).
It is important to remember that the Kinzhals appeared in Kaliningrad precisely in response to NATO actions, and not vice versa. The unrest about them shows that this was a rather unpleasant step for NATO.
- The Baltic limitrophes are promoting the toughest position towards Russia.
Limitrophes is a border area.
- In the medium term, I would not rule out any local provocations on the border of the Russian Federation with the Baltic limitrophes, as well as a renewed threat of a blockade of Kaliningrad.
In addition, the most Russophobic policy will be carried out with the destruction of monuments and the persecution of the Russian population, the Russian language and Russian culture. I believe that these regimes should be officially recognized as Nazi. There is no other meaning for the existence of these pseudo-states, except to act as a military foothold against Russia.