Russian special services are carrying out a special operation to destabilise the situation in Ukraine. The operation is called Maidan-3. Find out when to expect its culmination and how it should end

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The Intelligence Committee under the President of Ukraine has reported that the culmination of russia's Maidan-3 operation against Ukraine, which the occupiers launched last year, will come in the coming weeks. What is the essence of the operation and how does it threaten Ukrainian statehood, we will explain below.

Operation Maidan-3: what is it all about?

As explained by Ukrainian intelligence, the occupiers want to undermine the situation inside Ukraine as part of Operation Maidan-3. The russians consider mass protests in the country and distrust of the authorities to be its successful outcome.

According to Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukrainian intelligence, in such a situation, it would be very difficult for the Ukrainian military at the front, and there would be a threat to the support of the international coalition.

The goal of the russians inside Ukraine is to demoralise Ukrainians, sow panic among the population, drive a wedge between the military and civilians, and set everyone at odds with everyone, including representatives of the country's political leadership and civil society.

The russians also have the main directions in this operation: disrupting Ukrainian mobilisation, spreading disinformation about Ukraine's inability to win, creating and spreading fakes about fatigue with Ukraine among our partners and allies in the world. The russians' global international goal is to reduce support for our country from the pro-Ukrainian coalition in the world.

In addition, russian intelligence services want to call into question the legitimacy of the government decisions made in Ukraine after 20 May. It is worth noting that this is the deadline for Volodymyr Zelenskyy's term as president. The occupiers want to play on the fact that the Ukrainian leader no longer has the authority, as his presidency has expired. However, the Constitution of Ukraine explicitly states that the term of the president cannot end without elections, and elections are impossible during wartime.

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Maidan-3 is in progress, culminating in March-May

According to intelligence, the russians spent a total of about $1.5 billion on the new information operation against Ukraine. This is the most expensive "action" of russian special services in history.

According to intelligence, the Maidan-3 special operation will reach its culmination in March-May 2024, and in the coming weeks the enemy will make every effort to spread narratives destructive to global security and attempt to incite conflicts - both within Ukraine and in other parts of the world where there is effective support for Ukraine.

The enemy's plan is to shake up the situation in Ukraine in the first half of June, and then take advantage of the situation to inflict a military defeat on the Ukrainian army in the east.

The first phase of Maidan-3 failed

As the representative of the GUR, Andriy Yusov, noted on the air of a Ukrainian telethon, the first phases of the operation were a fiasco. But now the special operation has been postponed to other dates - April and May.

It is worth noting that the first reports of Moscow's plans began to emerge in November 2023, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow was seeking to sow division in Ukrainian society, create "chaos" within the country and remove the president.

According to Zelenskyy, the russians wanted to remove him from office before the end of 2023. However, later, the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said that russia's operation was failing.

Despite the chain of failures on the part of the Kremlin, they may try to influence Ukrainian society to organise protests this spring. This will enable the russian army to achieve at least some kind of "victory" on the eastern front.

We remind you! Since the beginning of the war, Kyiv has been in the crosshairs of the russian army, and after an unsuccessful attempt in 2022, the occupiers may again launch an offensive against the Ukrainian capital. Read what the military and Ukrainian generals have to say about these risks here.

Photo: Mstyslav Chernov

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