Kremlin threatens again: Russia calls Odesa and Mykolaiv regions its “targets”
2 September 2025 06:54
Russia continues to openly declare its aggressive intentions towards Ukraine. Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, said that the territories of Odesa and Mykolaiv regions allegedly “meet the objectives of a special military operation.” He said this in a commentary to the Russian edition “Podyem”, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The politician called these regions a “security zone” for Russia and added that the issue of their “entry” into the Russian Federation, according to him, should be “decided by the residents of the regions.”
At the same time, Sobolev emphasized that Russia’s priority remains the complete seizure of the occupied territories that the Kremlin illegally declared its own after the pseudo-referendums and the creation of a “security zone” for the Russian fleet in the Black Sea:
“We have to completely liberate those subjects of the Russian Federation that are constitutionally part of Russia. And create a security zone. Even for our fleet in the Black Sea. These are, in particular, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions. That is, this is the territory that meets the goals of our special military operation that is currently underway. These goals must certainly be achieved.”
on August 30, the Russian Ministry of Defense released a map showing Odesa and Mykolaiv regions separated from Ukraine.
As a reminder, Russia launched a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, after occupying Crimea and parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions in 2014. As of today, parts of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Mykolaiv regions (including the Kinburn Spit) remain under Russian control.
On May 26, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Russia has no plans to end the war and is preparing new offensive operations.
According to the DeepState monitoring service, which cooperates with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the speed of the Russian army’s advance in the summer has decreased to a minimum level.
