US institute: Russia now has no opportunity to take Odessa

"The Russians do not exclude the possibility of launching an offensive to the city of Odessa, however, now they do not have such an opportunity, but it may appear," an analyst at the US Institute for the Study of War Natalia Bugaeva said.

"From a military point of view, it seems to me that they now have no opportunity to take Odessa. But it seems to me that it is premature to talk about Odesa now until they have completed the Donbas, but their intentions have not changed. And Odesa will be one of their first goals – they need it not only for control over the South of Ukraine, control over the Black Sea, plus it matters for Moldova and Transnistria,” she said.

According to Bugayeva, the liberation of Zmeiny Island was essential both from a military and moral and psychological point of view: "An important victory for Ukraine both from a military and moral point of view."

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