"End of war will begin with liberation of Crimea" — Zelenskyy's representative in Crimea

The end of Russia's war against Ukraine will begin with the liberation of the temporarily occupied peninsula, the permanent representative of the president in Crimea, Tamila Tasheva has said, according to the message of the Presidential Representation in ARC.

According to the official, the strategy of de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea, adopted in 2021, prioritized the political and diplomatic way of returning the peninsula, but never ruled out the military one.

She noted that in the conditions of a full-scale war against Russia, Ukraine itself will choose which way to liberate its territory from the enemy.

Tasheva stated that the goals of victory of Ukraine, restoration of its territorial integrity and security are recorded in the strategy.

"This year, the measures of the strategy are changing. This is imminent in the conditions of a full-scale invasion and is the need of the hour. The strategy will establish a key point — the end of the war will begin with the liberation of Crimea, because the war began with its occupation," the representative of the head of state concluded.

Earlier, intelligence said that the occupiers had begun evacuation from Crimea, and the peninsula will be de-occupied in the near future.

• Spy chief Kyrylo Budanov declared that Ukraine will return the temporarily occupied Crimea by a combined means — military force and diplomacy.
• The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba said that a diplomatic solution to the war could be a return to Ukraine's borders as of 2013.
• Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov believes that Ukraine can return Crimea without fighting.