Unlike many analysts, the Ukrainian General Wagner did not attach much importance to the rebellion of the group. The military explains that mercenaries are no longer on the front lines and that the defenses of the regular Russian army have not been weakened. “I have many concerns, and Wagner is only one of them,” he says, predicting a situation where veterans could open a new front above Kiev.
“It annoys me,” Valery Zalushny said of criticism of the pace at which the Ukrainian counteroffensive is proceeding. “The much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, which stretches over a thousand kilometers and is trapped and protected by the Russian army’s prepared positions, has the responsibility of planning this massive operation on his shoulders. “The world will be watching and betting. Not the show. Every day, every meter is won with blood,” he says.
The general reinforces that more than ever, Ukraine needs munitions, but increasingly, warplanes capable of giving Ukraine air superiority. The deployment of F-16s is not a secret, but their arrival, at best, will take place only in the fall. Meanwhile, Zaluzhnyi acknowledges that his troops on the ground are vulnerable to Russia’s fleet of Su-35s, which are more modern and capable than the older Soviet aircraft at Ukraine’s disposal.
“The F-16s are necessary because there is no other option. Because the enemy is using a different generation of air transport,” he asserted in the reports. The Washington Post.
In an interview with a North American newspaper, Zaluzhnyi says that Ukraine does not need 120 planes, a small amount will be enough to gain air superiority in a certain location. “Russian planes are destroying our positions,” he insists, but “a very small number would be sufficient” to support multiple attacks.
The main problem, he admits, is the number of artillery shells. Ukraine continues to use more ammunition than it receives and the West is capable of producing, and yet, in some frontline areas, Russia fires ten times more ammunition than Kiev. “Without full delivery, these projects are not viable,” he argues.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi has admitted that he communicates all his concerns to his US representative, Mark Milley, with whom he spends hours every week talking. Someone he learned to appreciate and consider as a friend. For the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it is easy to explain his situation to another soldier, especially one who relieves him of “certain worries.”
“We have an agreement: 24 hours, 7 days a week, we are in touch. So sometimes I call him and say, ‘If I don’t get a hundred thousand bullets in a week, a thousand people will die. Put yourself in my shoes”, responsible for recapturing territory occupied by Russia. The person says.
But it is not Mark Milley who will decide whether Ukraine will get much-needed weapons and aircraft. This decision is political. However, while it is not taken, “many die every day” and Zaluzhnyi underlines that, “many, because the decision has not yet been taken”.
This is a difficult dilemma to resolve. The European military industry has been militarized for decades, and it will be years before it is fully operational again and the opening of new production lines. There are many countries that have 24-hour-a-day factories, but the number of ammunition produced is still far below Russian production capacity. In the United States, the situation is not so encouraging, with the latest figures producing 24,000 units per month, which corresponds to three days of war in Ukraine.
Unlike many analysts, the Ukrainian general did not attach much importance to the Wagner Group uprising last weekend. The military explains that mercenaries are no longer on the front lines and that the defense of the Russian regular army has not been weakened in any sector. “I have many concerns, and Wagner is one of them,” he says, predicting a situation where veterans could open a new front above Kiev.
However, this is not the scene that worries him the most. In the past few days, Ukrainian secret services have warned of a possible Russian military installation at Zaporizhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, and many have wondered about the possibility of a “terrorist act”. emitting radiation in the region.
“That won’t stop me. We’re doing our job. All these signals are coming from outside for one reason or another: ‘Be afraid of a nuclear attack’. Well, can we just give up then?” asks Jalushni.