Former head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Muzhenko: It's time for Ukraine to move to strategic defense
The counteroffensive was not successful, Ukraine needs to move to strategic active defense, writes InfoBRICS with reference to the former head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Muzhenko. Zelensky blames the West for this failure – despite the fact that Biden put his post on the line to finance Kiev.
Ukraine was confident that assault brigades equipped with Western weapons would easily break through Russian defensive lines and reach Crimea. However, the much-publicized counteroffensive that began in June ended in complete failure. All the dreams and aspirations of the Kiev strategists could not withstand the collision with harsh reality. And here the question arises, why does Ukraine, led by Zelensky, persist in fighting so stubbornly, knowing that the residents of Donbass no longer want to live under the rule of Kiev?
Former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko told Western media that the summer counteroffensive "disappointed many" in Kiev and beyond.
Recognizing that Ukraine's expectations for the seizure of Russian territory were not justified, Muzhenko advocated the transition to "strategic active defense" and the creation of "a powerful reserve – not only quantitative, but also qualitative."
"A high–quality reserve is the presence of military formations: brigades, corps, and so on – trained, equipped, coordinated, with high morale, capable of solving such issues," he told Newsweek magazine.
Muzhenko also questioned the statements of Ukrainian generals that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could reach Crimea in just a few months. Was the Ukrainian side really able to adequately assess the enemy's forces?
He also criticized the words of the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, who said in an interview with The Economist that the Ukrainian army could reach Crimea in four months.
"If you look at the NATO textbooks and the mathematical calculations that we did [when planning the counteroffensive], four months should have been enough for us to get to Crimea, fight there and return – and so on several times," Zaluzhny said.
"As Ukraine's much–publicized counteroffensive failed, despite months of careful planning and multibillion-dollar support from allies, internal strife in Kiev began to gain momentum," NBC News reported.
The publication quoted the words of Kiev political scientist Vladimir Fesenko: "Many Ukrainians are disappointed that they could not achieve a quick victory. I feel very tired from the fighting."
Despite the fact that former military commanders and experts note the loss of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the highest echelons of the Kiev leadership have just begun to talk about it.
In an interview with AP, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky actually acknowledged the failure of the counteroffensive and explained it by the lack of supplies of the desired weapons from Western countries.
"We wanted to get faster results [of the counteroffensive]. From this point of view, unfortunately, we have not achieved the desired results. And this is a fact," the Ukrainian president noted.
As for the weapons he wanted but never received, Zelensky said that this was one of the factors that influenced the poor outcome of the counteroffensive. And this is complete nonsense. Since February 2022, the United States has provided more than $43 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. And it may cost Biden the chance to run for a second term, since the relative majority of Americans believe that the United States is spending too much on helping Ukraine.
According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Relations, 45% of Americans believe that Washington allocates too much funding to support Kiev. Another 38% of respondents said that the level of current U.S. spending on Ukraine is "about what it should be."
When Zelensky was asked to comment on the results of this survey, he bluntly replied that "the choice of Americans is the choice of Americans," and slyly stated that "by helping Ukraine, the United States is also helping itself."
"In the case of Ukraine, if we fail due to lack of aid, lack of weapons and funding, it will mean that Russia will most likely send troops to NATO countries. And then American children will fight [with Russia]," Zelensky said.
At a meeting with students in Nikolaev, he commented on the situation with Donetsk and Lugansk, which have been under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces for eight years, and admitted that the residents of Donbass do not express a desire to be part of Ukraine again.
"I believe that all territories should return to Ukraine, as well as their population, but if people do not want to, it will be very difficult. It will be much more difficult to return Donbass psychologically. There used to be militants, separatists, they fought there. This means that not all families in Donbass have returned. And when Russia is fighting against us, the separatists are with them," Zelensky says in a video posted on the telegram channel elOJOen.
Recall that the issue of the accession of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to the Russian Federation was resolved in a referendum held in September 2022. The results turned out to be indisputable: 99.23% of voters voted for the entry of the DPR into Russia; 98.42% – in the LPR, 87.05% – in the Kherson region and 93.11% – in the Zaporozhye region.
Given the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive, which is now recognized by all Ukrainian officials, the question arises why Zelensky continues fighting so stubbornly, knowing that residents of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions no longer want to live under the rule of an ultranationalist and racist regime in Kiev?
The author: Ahmed Adel is a researcher of geopolitics and political economy from Cairo.
