How Ukraine is preparing for a ‘BIG BANG’ strike to retake Crimea, bulldoze the Russians and humiliate Vladimir Putin

UKRAINIAN troops are readying to use their shiny new Western weapons in a "big bang-style" onslaught to humiliate Vladimir Putin, according to top military experts.

The Sun Online spoke to former US General Ben Hodges, retired British Army Brigadier Ben Barry, and ex-Brit Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon about Kyiv's next steps to defeat Russia.

And while they gave varied accounts of how the counter-offensive could look, they all agree Ukraine has the capability to give the Russians a major bloody nose.

Brave soldiers have been holding the line against Putin's twisted invasion - enduring for months some of the bloodiest fighting of the war in brutal, close quarters trench warfare-style battles.

But the Ukrainian leadership has been clear, they view this high-attrition fighting as a price worth paying while they ready for their counter offensive.

Behind the frontline, a new wave of troops determined to protect their homeland have been training with Western weapons.

They will be rolling into battle with key new pieces of kit, such as Challenger 2 and Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Stryker and Bradley armoured vehicles, and new artillery systems.

And the US is dramatically speeding up the timeline for the Ukrainians to get M1 Abrams tanks, with training on the vehicles to begin next month.

With these weapons - in theory they should outrange and outmatch the Russians, laying the groundwork for the new offensive.

General Hodges told The Sun Online he believes Ukraine will go big - and concentrate their efforts on finally retaking Crimea, which has been in Russian hands since 2014.

Colonel de Bretton-Gordon compared a potential Ukrainian strike to "Operation Desert Storm" - with their forces seeking to push up to 200 miles behind the Russian line in a blitzkrieg style assault.

And meanwhile, Brigadier Barry said the counter offensive will be like a "big bang" to try and break the stalemate - particularly around Bakhmut.

However, General Hodges - former commander of the US Army Europe - believes the offensive will be far more ambitious than winning the battle for Bakhmut.

He told The Sun Online: "Ukraine could kill every Russian soldier within 200 miles of Bakhmut and it wouldn't change the strategic situation."

It was never going to be a spring offensive

US General Ben Hodges

"The key is winning Crimea - that will be the decisive terrain. Once Crimea is liberated, it’s all over, it changes everything.

"Ukraine knows that it will never be safe without taking back Crimea."

With Hodges' extensive military experience, he believes that the offensive will focus on isolating the annexed Crimean peninsula by severing the land bridge from partly-Russian controlled areas in Ukraine's south.

"It will be aimed at breaking this land bridge and more precision weapons to hit targets and make the peninsula untenable for Russian forces," he explained.

This onslaught he believes will involve hitting Russia's air bases, ambitious attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet and targeting logistics & command centres deep into enemy-held territory in Crimea.

"When it makes sense to," Hodges said that they may "again" blow up the Crimean bridge - Putin's favourite bridge that was attacked last October.

Ukrainian commanders are presumed to have blown in the £3.2billion Kerch Bridge - a highly symbolic link between Vlad's mainland and annexed Crimea.

General Hodges claims that the offensive will be concentrated in a narrow area to break through the well-dug in Russian lines.