AFU Major Tells How AFU To 'Celebrate' May 9

It is reasonable to strike at the enemy on any date.

Russia is preparing to celebrate another "sacred" date - 9 May - with a military parade on Red Square in Moscow. The concentration of occupation troops is a great opportunity for the Ukrainian army to strike military columns. The MID has already warned Russians about the danger of remaining close to military forces on Victory Day, and such a risk does exist because Ukrainian UAVs can fly not only to Moscow, but even further.

It would be great to "celebrate" May 9 by destroying the Crimean bridge. The Ukrainian Defence Forces, unlike the occupant, are not attached to dates. The real military necessity to attack this structure will occur when the Ukrainian army reaches the coast of the Sea of Azov. A veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, a major in the AFU reserve, Oleksiy Hetman, expressed this opinion in an exclusive interview withOBOZREVATEL.

- Do you think that on May 9, Putin may give us some kind of "surprise" on the front? After all, he is known for his particular affection for "sacred" dates, in particular, Victory Day. Do you think that today occupants have opportunities to do something unexpected for the Ukrainian army?

- By and large, we know all their possibilities. They have nothing particularly new. So there can be rocket attacks or something else, which they have done repeatedly before. But they are not able to do something significant. They have no forces and means to conduct serious offensive actions.

So, it is likely that some sort of missile attack may take place, most likely against civilian objects, to carry out another terrorist act. One should not expect more from them because they are not up to it.

- By the way, according to OK South, Russia has doubled the number of missiles in the Black Sea. The total salvo of Kalibers may reach 24. Could this be preparation specifically for May 9 to strike Ukraine?

- They would not withdraw the ships earlier than a week in order to do this exactly on May 9. They are not on combat duty for a long time. The enemy doesn't necessarily prepare a salvo. They usually launch massive attacks, but there is no indication that there are bombers ready to take off in the Russian Federation.

However, the danger remains. There's little chance they'll launch all 24 missiles at once; that's the maximum number. It is quite possible they could attack, but I don't think it will somehow relate to 9 May. They won't be able to be on durty for so long.

- The Main Intelligence Directorate has warned Russians to stay away from war criminals and military equipment that will parade in Moscow. Do you think Ukraine can strike military convoys in Moscow today?

- It is always reasonable to strike at the enemy, on any date. Do we have such an opportunity? Of course, we have. Our drones can cover distances of over 1000 km. As secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Danilov said, this distance to cover can even reach up to 3,000 kilometres.

Many people have heard reports from one of our businessmen (Volodymyr Yatsenko - Ed.) that he is ready to pay a reward of 20m hryvnyas if one manages to conduct an action directly during the parade on Red Square. It does not necessarily require an explosion. It may be our UAV, which flies with the Ukrainian flag over Red Square and drops leaflets. Although a strike directly at a column of military equipment would be nice.

The fact that traffic is already banned on Red Square means they understand we are capable of doing it. We all hope that it will work.

- We understand that Red Square in Moscow is still more of a symbol with no direct relation to the war in Ukraine. However, there is another symbol of great political and military importance - the Crimean bridge. Do you think that the Ukrainian Defence Forces could destroy this structure on May 9?

- The difference between us and the Russians is that we do not adjust our actions to any dates. A military-political action on Red Square on May 9 is an exception. It can be done as it may have a negative effect on the enemy.

Many foreign analysts say that we should reach the coast of the Sea of Azov to cut off the supplies by land to Crimea of everything necessary for the military formation. When we succeed, the only artery left is the Crimean bridge.

It should be destroyed to put the enemy in a notional operational environment. However, adjusting it to dates is very Russian, we don't do that.

- The last question concerns shells with depleted uranium for Challenger 2 tanks, which Ukraine received from Great Britain. In your view, how much will it strengthen the ability of the Ukrainian army, particularly on the eve of a counteroffensive?

- The cores of the shells can be made of depleted uranium or tungsten, with tungsten cores being more effective but also more expensive. The principle is the same. They make the projectile more powerful. By and large, it can pierce any armour, frontal or other, on Russian tanks.

One should not be concerned about the radiation source. The radioactivity of the depleted uranium projectile is less than the natural background radiation. It is calculated: in order for a tank crewman, fully insulated from natural radiation, sitting in a tank loaded with depleted uranium shells, to receive a radiation dose equal to the one we get every day, he should spend 2000 hours in the tank.

And one more point. DU is not radioactive, but it is heavy, which is why the keels for very expensive yachts are made of it. I don't think millionaires would like to install anything dangerous on their yachts. And most importantly, DU is used in medicine. It is used to make protective layers for X-ray machines, because it protects from X-rays, for instance, during fluorography.

- So, such shells can pierce any Russian tank, even the most modern one?

- Yes, even the most modern. There's certain kinetics at work here. A DU shell has high kinetic energy and many other interesting things. There is no armour in any of the most modern Russian tanks that can withstand the impact of a DU or tungsten shell.