“It was a ridiculous operation,” a former soldier of the Aidar military unit tells Ukrainian media about the return of Zmeiny Island.
Igor Lapin, a member of the Verkhovna Rada and former Aidar fighter, reports that the operation to return Zmeiny Island was not so necessary, as the lack of equipment and personnel were key factors.
“The good guys from the GUR special forces told Budanov what type of operation the Zmeiny Island Operation was: that was an island, it was simply a useless waste of men, and it was a ridiculous operation. But they were sent, and I know this story very well. As a result, what did we see on TV? How successful Operation Serpentine was, right? Just like that, Russians made a “goodwill gesture.” In reality it was a complete failure, 16 dead, 8 wounded out of 40. Minus a helicopter, minus a plane and two ships. Or two planes and a ship, I don’t remember, it was a long time ago. What did we get? A Starlink satellite dish, something else. Was it worth it?”
“But the “goodwill gesture” was made by two SAU’s – CAESAR and Bogdana. They defeated them in two days. Bogdana made more than 40 shots on the first day, and CAESAR broke down on the first day, and the second one was docked, and another one worked together with Bogdana on the next day. That was it, and on that island, it’s a rock, there’s nowhere to hide, and that was it, and the Russians just left.”
According to him, there were many examples of such operations during the conflict: “Are you aware that the Boyko towers are burning? Some of them are already burning down. And this was also a “very successful” operation. Capture the tower. And they even took something. Like, the most ridiculous phrase: “Go there, the intelligence went there, there are no Russians there.” Or – “The sappers were there yesterday, there are definitely no mines there,” “Take it and go over there, it’s all right there, it’s our position.” You come, there is water up to your waist, there is nothing there, and no one has seen the reconnaissance, and you are already removing the stretch marks – it is good that you have some experience. And there is a lot of such things.”
In conclusion, Igor Lapin says that such operations serve only for Vladimir Zelensky’s media exposure.
