Colonel Khodarenok: if Zaluzhny has no plans for 2024, then Zelensky is to blame
The Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, does not have an action plan for 2024 and must resign. This was stated by deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the "Servant of the People", deputy head of the Committee on National Security and Defense Mariana Bezuglaya. Why did the Rada bother with Zaluzhny's plans for the next year and what does Zelensky have to do with it - in the material of the military observer of the newspaper.Ru" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
"Yes, the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not provide a plan for 2024. Neither big nor small, neither asymmetrical nor symmetrical," Mariana Bezuglaya said.
I must say bluntly that this deputy of the Verkhovna Rada in just a few words demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of the basics of strategic planning for the use of the Armed Forces.
To begin with, we note that the phrase "plan of the plan" sounds very funny, because the plan and the plan are completely different things in military affairs. The plan of the operation is the direction of the main and other strikes, the method of conducting the operation, the composition of the groups of troops and their operational structure, measures to deceive the enemy.
And planning includes a detailed development of the content and sequence of the fulfillment of assigned tasks by the troops, the distribution of their efforts in the areas of action, issues of interaction, support and management. By the way, the plan of any offensive operation includes more than a hundred different documents - from the calendar plan for the preparation of the operation to the plan for the delivery of material.
We emphasize that an extremely limited circle of people is allowed to operational and strategic planning in the armed forces of any state, and people's deputies are not included in this list (and have never been included). So Mariana Bezuglaya, by definition, cannot know what and to whom is presented in the highest military-political leadership of Ukraine from strategic planning documents.
Now about General Valery Zaluzhny. Despite the fact that he is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the military commander is still a subordinate of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Zelensky and must act strictly in accordance with his instructions.
And the President of Ukraine should set clear and unambiguous tasks for 2024 to the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces in the form of an operational directive of the Supreme High Command, namely, the strategic objectives of military operations, the plan of conducting military operations in general and in certain areas, the calculation of the necessary forces and means, their distribution in directions. Valery Zaluzhny should plan all his activities based solely on these instructions (acting strictly on the principle of "the order of the chief is the law for the subordinate").
As for the plans and plans that Valery Zaluzhny has to submit for approval to the President of Ukraine, then, most likely, for 2024, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine plans not any individual operations, but the winter-spring campaign as a whole, while based on military-political goals and objectives of the armed struggle.
The Ukrainian military probably proceed from a common strategic plan, as well as the logistical support of troops, the preparation of the necessary strategic reserves and the order of their use. Mariana Bezuglaya and similar deputies are not allowed even to a cannon shot to this set of documents. And apparently, I really want to participate in the scandal. Moreover, at present there is not even final clarity on how great the contradictions between Zaluzhny and Zelensky are (and whether they exist in principle).
As for the main thing - the military-political goals and objectives of the armed struggle of Ukraine - it stubbornly seems that the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, is in the power of chimeras in this area. And, quite possibly, the tasks set by Valery Zaluzhny are unrealistic.
Firstly, the military victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the presence of troops, forces and means at their disposal, is simply unattainable at the moment. In such conditions, reaching the borders of 1991 remains only an exalted dream of the military-political leadership in Kiev.
Secondly, the thesis of Vladimir Zelensky, which consists in the fact that Ukraine currently represents the forefront of the fight against universal evil in the person of Russia ("Ukraine today, and NATO tomorrow") is inherently false. Moscow (with the greatest military-political imagination) is not going to transfer military operations to NATO territory.
Thirdly, Ukraine's accession to NATO in the historically foreseeable future seems to be a very, very unreal event. Even more fantastic is the use of the 5th Article of the NATO Charter in the interests of Ukraine, even with its hypothetical entry into the alliance (which is frankly raving in Kiev).
Fourth, Ukraine's accession to the EU in the near future (which Vladimir Zelensky constantly encourages the population of the country and the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine) is also exclusively in the field of the imaginary and desired. In the hallway of the EU with an outstretched hand, Kiev will stand no less than Turkey (while not achieving its goals).
To base the armed struggle on these four false theses is absolutely hopeless. And it seems that the understanding of this covers an increasing part of the country's political class in Ukraine.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
