Kiev has declared its intention to retake the peninsula and has subjected targets there to regular attack. Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, long before the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainian general staff in Kiev said the counteroffensive to retake territory was focusing on the Bakhmut area in the Donetsk region in the east of the country and in the direction of Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhya region in the south. The air defence authority in Kiev reported attacks by cruise missiles and drones on Ukrainian territory on Thursday, while the authorities on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula reported attacks by Ukrainian drones. Can Russia accept Ukraine to retake Crimea ?