Port of Odessa. Photo: Wikipedia.org .
Alexey Podberezkin, director of the MGIMO Center for Military and Political Studies, commented on the National Interest publication, which says that if, as a result of a special operation, Ukraine loses access to the Black Sea, it will deal a catastrophic blow to the country and make it a “stump state”.
“Such a development of events is inevitable,” Podberezkin said in an interview VM.RU .
According to him, the Black Sea coast is historically a Russian region and it would be strange to leave it in the power of the “Russophobic junta”.
“Russia will take control of the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions,” the expert expressed confidence, noting that this will cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea.
When asked when this might happen, Podberezkin replied that “very quickly.”
“Of course, many experts will disagree with me, but I believe that this will happen before the end of August,” he added.