{"id":14986,"date":"2024-02-02T00:47:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T00:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/02\/exclusive-ukraine-must-adapt-to-a-reduction-in-western-military-aid-embattled-army-chief-says\/"},"modified":"2024-02-02T00:47:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T00:47:38","slug":"exclusive-ukraine-must-adapt-to-a-reduction-in-western-military-aid-embattled-army-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/02\/exclusive-ukraine-must-adapt-to-a-reduction-in-western-military-aid-embattled-army-chief-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Ukraine must adapt to a reduction in Western military aid, embattled army chief says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ukraine\u2019s embattled\u00a0army chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, says Ukraine must adapt to a reduction in military aid from its key allies and focus ever more strongly on technology if it is to win its war against Russia. <\/p>\n

The general\u2019s article makes no reference to his relationship with the president, nor to reports Zelensky is poised to announce his dismissal after four years in the job,\u00a0a move a source said could come within days. <\/p>\n

Instead, the military commander seeks to build on an argument in an essay published three months ago, in addition to commenting for the first time on a series of political setbacks at home and abroad. <\/p>\n

In that first essay, published in the Economist, Zaluzhnyi highlighted the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities,\u00a0as a priority for Ukraine, before concluding, \u201cNew innovative approaches can turn this war of position into one of maneuver.\u201d <\/p>\n

Zaluzhnyi\u2019s characterization of the situation as a war of position \u2013 one defined by attrition and a lack of movement on the battlefield \u2013 amounted to a recognition that the\u00a0Ukrainian counteroffensive, launched to great fanfare earlier in 2023,\u00a0was effectively over. <\/p>\n

Expectations earlier in the year were high that Ukraine could go on the attack and drive forward, conducting a war of maneuver to recapture significant amounts of territory lost to Russia in 2022. <\/p>\n

But deep Russian minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire, along with the rapid proliferation of First-Person-View (FPV) drones across the frontlines, making stealth attacks much harder, proved difficult to overcome. <\/p>\n

In the south, the primary focus of the effort, Ukrainian forces advanced about 20 kilometers; the hope had been they might be able to make it all the way to the coast, about 70 kilometers away. <\/p>\n

When Zaluzhny \u2013 in a separate interview at the same time \u2013 referred to the situation as a \u2018stalemate,\u2019 Zelensky\u2019s office snapped, saying such talk only helped Russia. <\/p>\n

Now, though, he clearly believes Ukraine\u2019s military leaders must take account of a series of disappointments and distractions away from the battlefield as well. <\/p>\n

Indirectly, he references the failure of the United States to agree a new military aid package for Ukraine, as well as the fact that developments in the Middle East since October have drawn international attention elsewhere. <\/p>\n

In addition, \u201cthe weakness of the international sanctions\u2019 regime means Russia \u2026 is still able to deploy its military-industrial complex in pursuit of a war of attrition against us.\u201d <\/p>\n

He does not say it in as many words, but the article seems to suggest a growing sense that, ultimately, Ukraine\u2019s fate is in its own hands. <\/p>\n

An attitude of self-help is not new in Ukraine, of course. <\/p>\n

It has prioritized its home-grown drone industry, for instance, notching up successes both in its sea drone program, striking Russian naval targets in the Black Sea, and with its long-range aerial drones, flying hundreds of kilometers to hit sites in and around Russia\u2019s largest cities. <\/p>\n

But domestic problems are clearly a concern, as when Zaluzhnyi references the apparent reluctance of his political masters in Kyiv to get fully behind his call for greater mobilization\u00a0for\u00a0up to half a million draftees, an acknowledgment of Russia\u2019s overwhelmingly superior troop numbers. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe must acknowledge the significant advantage enjoyed by [Russia] in mobilizing human resources and how that compares with the inability of state institutions in Ukraine to improve the manpower levels of our armed forces without the use of unpopular measures,\u201d he writes. <\/p>\n

In a society possibly reluctant to put large numbers of young men and women directly in harm\u2019s way, remote-controlled drones provide a more acceptable type of combat operation, as he acknowledges. <\/p>\n

Technology, he writes at one point, \u201cboasts an undoubted superiority over tradition.\u201d <\/p>\n

But its importance goes much further, he says, as he sets out his belief that unmanned aerial vehicles, along with other high-tech capabilities have revolutionized not just combat operations but the overall approach to strategy, too. <\/p>\n

Only an end to \u201coutdated, stereotypical thinking\u201d can help modern armies achieve victory in war, he writes. <\/p>\n

Read Valerii Zaluzhnyi\u2019s full essay here.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine\u2019s embattled\u00a0army chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, says Ukraine must adapt to a reduction in military aid from its key allies and focus ever more strongly on technology if it is to win its war against Russia. The general\u2019s article makes no reference to his relationship with the president, nor to reports Zelensky is poised to announce <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}