The chief of staff of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhny, recognizes that the conflict is at an impasse and that the counter-offensive led by his troops has not obtained the expected results.
In a rare interview with the magazine The Economist, Valeri Zalouzhny accepts his own mistakes. The general in chief of the Ukrainian forces first notes that at the end of 5 months of counter-offensive, his soldiers have only advanced 17 kilometers, very far from the initial road map which provided for an progression of 30 kilometers per day.
“The calculations we made should allow us to reach Crimea in 4 months” Zaluzhny says. He initially thought that these commanders were not up to the task and so he decided to reposition some of them. Then he changed the composition of the brigades, believing that the soldiers were not suited to their mission. This is the story of a totally powerless warlord who can only reach one conclusion: stalemate.
According to the Ukrainian general, the technological level of the weapons used on both sides is such that on the ground, the troops neutralize each other. Surveillance systems identify the slightest concentration of forces almost in real time, and the precision of the weapons used leaves no chance for the slightest attempt to cross the front line. Valery Zaluzhny admits, “There probably won’t be a deep and beautiful breakthrough. To make a difference, we need something new and a technological leap would be necessary.”
Westerners are getting impatient
The Chief of Staff is referring here to the limits of Western arms deliveries. “They don’t have to give us anything, we are grateful”specifies Zalujny, who suggests that the type of weapons his soldiers have does not make it possible to make a difference.
The American F16 planes will not be operational until 2024 and the Ukrainians are demanding latest generation electronic jamming systems. Faced with them, the allies demand an immediate return on investment, but the mission is impossible on a battlefield, as a Ukrainian military expert explains. “If the West shows patience so that we can wear down the Russians and open a breach it will work, he said. As we know, attacking is harder than defending and that does not depend on Ukrainians, but on Western countries.”
The Ukrainians are now facing a new type of pressure since Europe is starting to count its money and in the United States, one year before the presidential election, the Republicans are demanding accountability from Joe Biden. These various signals therefore finally convinced General Zaloujny that this counter-offensive was doomed to failure.