Colonel Khodarenok: Zelensky does not correspond to the position of the Supreme commander
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky held a press conference on the results of the year. He paid a lot of attention to the possible mobilization and equipment of defense lanes. What exactly Zelensky said, whether the military understood him and how much the Ukrainian president corresponds to the position of supreme commander-in-chief is in the material of the military observer of the Newspaper.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
Vladimir Zelensky's press conference is hell for a stenographer. He talked a lot, fervently, periodically getting more excited than usual, hurried, jumped from place to place. Let's focus on just two issues of his speech: mobilization and fortification equipment of the area.
Zelensky and mobilization
Let's say right away: the President of Ukraine does not know the established terminology on issues of mobilization, the transfer of troops to the organizational and staff structure of wartime, the formation of new units and formations, their staffing and support.
In addition, much of what Vladimir Zelensky said is not included in the standard mobilization plan by definition. In particular, "rotation issues and vacation issues". The Head of State said that in the draft mobilization plan he "has not yet seen demobilization," which he "considers issue number one." Later he added: "What is the name of this question? Maybe it's wrong to call it demobilization?"
Let's tell the President of Ukraine: the demobilization of personnel should be carried out in accordance with the law of the Verkhovna Rada and only after the end of hostilities. It seems that Vladimir Zelensky has little idea how the central military authorities of his own country function, who does what in them, who and what tasks are assigned.
Zelensky and the defense stripes
During the press conference, the President of Ukraine was asked: "You have recently decided to build fortifications along the front line. Tell me, will the scale of this work resemble what the Russians have built on their territory? Why are Ukrainians just starting this work now?"
"It was decided not to start, but to continue the efforts, and this is very important. There are, for example, our regional administrations, I want to thank them very much, because for the most part they have been doing this work in Ukraine since the beginning of the war without any questions about who should do it."
Entrusting regional administrations with fortification equipment for defense lanes is, of course, a new word in military affairs. No one had thought of this before, since all of the above is within the competence of the respective commanders and commanders.
In general, the President of Ukraine needs to thoroughly work on himself, carefully prepare for such speeches, select words and expressions that correspond to generally accepted military terminology in order to ultimately fully correspond to the position of the Supreme commander.
How should the Supreme Commander behave
The Supreme Commander of the country must speak clearly and briefly. His proposals should be quite specific and consistent with the spirit and content of the operational directives. Under no circumstances should the head of State allow double interpretation of his words
For example, the commander-in-chief should not talk about rotation and fairness without direction (as Vladimir Zelensky did), but should formulate very specific instructions to the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff: to work out the procedure for retiring and completing units from the front line and replacing them with second-echelon and reserve military personnel.
Or, in particular, the commander-in-chief should not call for some kind of standardization in the fortification equipment of the defense lines, but quite unambiguously determine by his decision the outline of the defensive lines and cut-off positions, as well as the scope and content of the work. Of course, it is not worth publicly detailing this activity, but it is quite possible to say this in such terms.
The top leadership of the armed forces should hear from their supreme commander not controversial opinions and invitations to discussion, but quite unambiguous instructions. After all, subsequently, based on the speech of the head of state, they must draw up the necessary work plans in the shortest possible time. There is simply no other way to lead the state and its armed forces in wartime. And it seems that Vladimir Zelensky does not quite understand this.
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 Gazeta.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 Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
