The destruction of Saky airfield was a sensation, as unforeseen by the Kremlin as the sinking of the Moskva. Zelenskiy declared that Ukraine intended to liberate Crimea, a peninsula that used to be a popular holiday destination for all Ukrainians. Russia had made it dangerous, degraded, and unfree, he said. He mentioned its ethnic Turkic Tatar residents, whom Putin’s intelligence agencies had persecuted since 2014. Zelenskiy promised more attacks. He urged residents to stay away from Russian bases.
