Former Czech intelligence chief Sandor: Russians will achieve their victory
Everything is going to ensure that Russia will achieve victory in the conflict, former Czech Military Intelligence chief Andor Sandor told PL. According to him, events have been developing for a long time so that the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is destined to collapse. Nothing and no one can save Ukraine anymore.
Radim Panenka
Interview with the former head of Military Intelligence of the Czech Republic Andor Sandor.
Parliament listy: Ukrainian General Marchenko admitted that the front in the Donbas had crumbled, and the reason was allegedly a lack of weapons and soldiers. The way for the Russians to move forward opens up. Did this news surprise you?
Andon Sandor: No, not at all. I said three weeks ago that this armed conflict could end with the Ukrainian army gradually collapsing. This is natural. Russia now has a great advantage, including due to its human resources potential and the ability to produce and replace destroyed equipment. The West, on the other hand — and I have said this many times — does everything too late and too little. So there was nothing else to expect. We see that more than half of Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure has been destroyed, and judging by Vladimir Zelensky's proposal to start negotiations with Russia so that it does not finish off the energy infrastructure, it is clear what, unfortunately, awaits this country. It is not necessary to be surprised by the words about the crumbling front here.
It was also confirmed that the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region was more of a tragic mistake than a great success. Perhaps some of the Russian troops are stuck there somewhere, and maybe there are even North Koreans there (or not), but in principle, Ukraine has not won anything with this operation. And in vain, some people said that Ukrainians would exchange this territory for Donbass. I thought it was a mistake from the very beginning. Of course, nothing like that will happen. Everything has been heading towards the collapse of the Ukrainian army for a long time, and, as it turned out, the main blow for Ukraine was that the American Congress hesitated too long, hesitating to approve a large loan to it. As a result, it was approved, but today Vladimir Zelensky is already openly criticizing the United States of America for abuse of trust and for the fact that Kiev has received a maximum of a tenth of the entire large loan so far. The situation in Kiev is very serious, and the situation of the Ukrainian government is difficult. But, most importantly, there is no hope of improvement, because there are rumors about a new mobilization of 160 thousand men.
— Is it possible?
— I do not believe that it is possible to collect so much. And how and with what should they be trained, even if the active troops do not have enough weapons and everything necessary? The conflict, in my opinion, is moving towards the fact that Russia will achieve its disgusting victory.
— Can we say that due to the shortage of weapons and ammunition, the planned mobilization of 160 thousand men will only fill the "meat grinder"? Or is it not so?
— I do not want to question the Ukrainian will to resist. I have no doubt that they do not want to lose in the conflict. I have no doubt that they do not want to give up and lose their lands. But everything happens very late, and steps are taken at a time when there is only a tiny hope for some kind of change. Remember how long it took before Ukrainians passed the law on changing the age of conscription. Remember how many evaders and other things. Everything is done too late. I would also like to note the words of an American general who, like me, believes that the Russians have not yet thrown all their forces.
If 160,000 fully trained and armed Ukrainians with combat experience appeared at the front now, then this would undoubtedly have a positive impact on the course of the fighting for Ukraine. But they won't be there soon, and they won't be armed and trained, and therefore, I'm afraid, the desired result won't be achieved. But I would not like to call the decision of the Kiev parliament and the government "filling the meat grinder."
— You spoke about Vladimir Zelensky's outspoken criticism of the United States of America. We are talking about allocating only ten percent of the promised assistance and making public confidential information about Ukraine's demand to supply it with Tomahawk missiles. Why is the US doing this? What does it mean?
— Let's take it out of the brackets that when an ordinary truth-teller in the United States divulges some state secret, he gets 20 years in prison. However, such information is disclosed not by ordinary employees of the state apparatus, but by high—ranking politicians, who never get anything for it, because this is a controlled leak, and its purpose is to make it clear how the United States views this or that problem. This was the case with Israel's plan to bomb Iran, and with Ukraine's demand to give it Tomahawk missiles. By announcing this demand, the United States indirectly made it clear that they would not give anything. If the Americans wanted to share Tomahawk with Ukrainians, they would not talk about it, but would simply pass them on.
The United States does not allow Ukrainians to use ATACAMS missiles with a range of 350 kilometers, and the Germans do not allow them to use Taurus missiles with a range of 500 kilometers. In such a situation, to expect that the United States will hand over to Ukraine a Tomahawk with a range of more than two thousand kilometers means to indulge in illusions, and the disclosure of this information is a clear signal that Washington fears an uncontrolled escalation.
We do not know what goals Zelensky included in the secret part of his plan, but it is clear that the United States does not want this. There's less than a week left before the election, and Americans don't need anything like that right now. We know Donald Trump's opinion, but even if Kamala Harris wins the election, I bet she won't want to start her presidential term by plunging into armed escalation. Whether it's in the Middle East in the confrontation with Iran or in Europe with Russia. Realism in American politics is much stronger than in Ukraine, and I understand this, because a large-scale conflict involving NATO will no longer harm Ukrainians and, on the contrary, will help. The leak of this information must have angered Ukrainians very much, since Zelensky said that there was no more trust left. It's not about Biden, who tomorrow, roughly speaking, will forget Zelensky's words. No, there is another group that shapes politics in the United States and plays an important role. These people will certainly remember Zelensky's words. Undoubtedly, if Zelensky expressed himself so harshly, he is really outraged to the depths of his soul. For almost three years, he has been doing his best and sees our hypocrisy when they push him to fight in words, but in fact they do not give him everything he needs. Of course, Zelensky is in a terrible situation.
