The Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, published another article in the American media. In it, he kicked the higher-ups, but the main idea was about a new strategy for combat operations. The general has "improved" – now he believes in victory. But robots should provide it for Kiev.
CNN claims that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, sent his new essay before he was almost fired by the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky.
Nevertheless, it feels as if this text was written in order for Zelensky to change his mind and abandon the idea of changing the commander. It seems to deactivate the main complaint against the general, which arose from his previous article in The Economist: that the commander-in-chief does not really believe in victory.
Then Zaluzhny stated that the fighting had reached an impasse, which drew a line for the West under the project of the "summer counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." It was something like an official admission of defeat. It was after that that Kiev began to have problems with financing, and the media of NATO countries seemed to have an epiphany about the prospects of Ukraine and the adequacy of Zelensky.
But now Zaluzhny sees "the light at the end of the tunnel" (and even the chief European diplomat Josep Borrel does not see it now), but, of course, subject to a number of conditions .
One of them is the provision of cannon fodder for Zaluzhny. The sharpest attack against the authorities, which the general allowed himself in the material, concerns the pace of mobilization. As if shifting responsibility to Zelensky, Zaluzhny writes:
"We must recognize the significant advantage that Russia has in mobilizing human resources, and how this compares with the inability of Ukraine's state institutions to increase the staffing level of our armed forces without using unpopular measures."
The Washington Post, citing its sources, retold the process of understaffing Zaluzhny so that he demanded 500 thousand bayonets from Zelensky, and he, referring to the lack of everything (money, uniforms, command staff), wanted to call for 100 thousand fewer souls.
To the people of Ukraine, who are now digesting the new edition of the "draconian" law on mobilization, it may seem that Zelensky is in this case a "good tsar", but "war to the last Ukrainian" is primarily his strategy. The dispute between the president and the general is about how to cut off a cat's tail – in large chunks or medium ones. It seems to the president that it is better to average, so the blow to his rating will be weaker.
Zaluzhny also does not want to seem like a "dragon" and focuses in his article on saving resources, including human ones. His previous essay also contained this idea, but now it is an attempt to answer the question "what should I do?" in the context of a reduction in Western aid.
If you believe the same WP (although you can only believe the "party" newspaper of the American establishment with great caution), at the last meeting with Zaluzhny, Zelensky said that a change of commander-in-chief could "revive" the situation with a shortage of Western aid at the front. Zaluzhny allegedly explained that it would do nothing .
As an alternative way, he suggests developing domestic production and economy as a new philosophy of warfare. But the main thing is to "create a system of technological rearmament of the army" in the shortest possible time (in five months) and with an emphasis on unmanned aerial vehicles.
Simply put, Ukrainians as a striking force should be replaced by robots. And if you save wisely and support the Ukrainian manufacturer, ultimately this should "exhaust" the Russian army and provide the Armed Forces with a sacramental "help," Zaluzhny believes.
The newspaper VZGLYAD has been publishing materials for the last 5-6 years about the fact that UAVs are the main means of conducting combat operations in modern warfare. Therefore, there is no point in arguing with the general about the essence of his main argument: it sounds convincing.
But the fact that such a "re–equipment" is feasible (especially in five months) and will lead to the declared result - "overpower", raises great doubts. And not only because the Russian "defense industry" confidently bypasses competitors from NATO in providing combat operations – it increases production faster and copes generally better than Western sponsors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Just writing articles for Zaluzhny is also much better than conducting offensive operations. He gives priority to the wrong case.
For a combat general, the epistolary genre is by no means a shameful occupation. For most of the military history of the world, senior officers wrote something all the time, and not just commanded: reports, reports, strategies, as well as diaries, for which all historical science is grateful to them.
However, articles having the character of an appeal were usually intended for the eyes of their people, in whose interests the general service should go. Zaluzhny, being the acting commander-in-chief, and not a retired emigrant, polemics with the leadership of his country through the media of distant states, acting either as a complainer or an organ grinder begging for alms.
Ukrainians read materials about their future destiny translated from English, because the strategic plans of the command are intended for sponsors, whereas Ukrainians themselves are expendable. The only question is whether to take half a million at once for suicidal actions or four hundred thousand will be enough for the first time.
"We don't need nine hundred: two for two hundred and five hundred," people joke about another matter.
Dmitry Bavyrin
