00:00Zelensky, Ukraine's Crimea campaign will force Putin to choose between peace and war.
00:07Kiev, June 24th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that Ukraine's escalating
00:14military campaign to isolate Crimea from mainland Russia is forcing Russian President Vladimir
00:19Putin to choose between peace and continued war. Speaking in his nightly address to the nation,
00:26Zelensky framed the operation as part of a deliberate strategy to create conditions
00:31that would compel Moscow to end its aggression. Our operation, including the one concerning Crimea,
00:38is carefully calculated, Zelensky said. If Ukraine receives exactly what we discussed with our
00:43partners within the G7, we will promptly create the conditions that will force Russia to choose peace.
00:50Crimea is becoming an island. Ukraine's Defense Minister, Mikhailo Fedorov,
00:56has described the campaign as a logistical lockdown designed to turn the occupied peninsula
01:01into an island. The strategy involves systematically severing supply routes that connect Crimea to
01:08mainland Russia, a goal that appears increasingly achievable. Ukrainian forces have escalated strikes
01:15on critical logistics infrastructure across the peninsula. In the past week alone, Kirch oil depot
01:22and port infrastructure on both sides of the Crimean bridge were struck on June 20th to 21st,
01:27with fires reported at the Kavkaz port and Chushka Spit. More than 60 Russian military targets were hit in a
01:34single overnight operation on June 23rd, including air defense systems, fuel infrastructure, and transport hubs.
01:41Power plants and gas distribution stations were targeted in Simferopol and Sevastopol,
01:47plunging parts of Crimea into darkness. A railway bridge over the North Crimean canal was destroyed,
01:54severing a key supply route for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
01:58Zelensky described the attacks as part of Ukraine's long-range sanctions campaign,
02:03targeting oil infrastructure and military logistics that fuel the Russian war machine.
02:09Russian installed authorities acknowledged the impact, with fuel sales to civilians suspended
02:14and a state of emergency declared.
02:16The human cost, exile and exodus.
02:20The crisis has triggered a mass exodus. Ukrainian estimates suggest that nearly a million Russians have
02:26fled Crimea since the campaign intensified, leaving fewer than 200,000 behind, many of whom are reportedly preparing to leave.
02:34The Institute for the Study of War confirmed a mass departure of Russian tourists, residents,
02:40and even Russian military and occupation personnel from the peninsula.
02:44Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a rare public acknowledgement,
02:48admitted that fuel lines have appeared across Russia,
02:51and that Crimea now has only several days of fuel supply left.
02:55He confirmed that a full ban on gasoline and aviation fuel exports has been imposed.
03:01The Strategic Choice
03:03Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine's objective is not merely military, but political,
03:08to force Russia to the negotiating table.
03:11We will not allow Russia to use our territory as a tool to prolong the war, he said.
03:16The war that the aggressors waged on our territory is now turning into the territory of the aggressors.
03:23Citation original text.
03:24He made clear that Ukraine wants peace, not war, but warned that peace must be achieved on Ukraine's terms.
03:32We need a security guarantee.
03:34We receive security guarantees from our allies.
03:37We must not give the aggressors a chance to be a guarantor,
03:40because they still nurture the desire to invade us at all times.
03:44Citation original text.
03:46Zolensky concluded by placing the choice squarely on Moscow.
03:50Russia must choose peace with us.
03:53The invaders know very well that the occupation of our territory is illegal.
03:58The choice is up to Russia, whether to make peace with us now or to abandon the peace.
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