Zelenskyy Seeks New Battle Strategy
Trump suggests that NATO members who have not paid enough should not get protection from invasion
The news that Zelenskyy has replaced the head of the Ukrainian army has been met with silence around the world. While he calls for a renewal of strategy, he has given General Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) the Hero of Ukraine award with the Gold Star. The move has proved unpopular with Ukrainians and those in the military, and the award given the day after being fired is supposed to show that Ukrainians are united.
The problem isn’t strategy but a lack of troops and weapons as Ukraine has been operating on handouts and a small army compared to Russia. Mobilisation failed and we saw that in the early days as people fled the country—I saw families with men and expected just women and children, but no one stopped the men leaving. It was chaotic, but shows that Ukraine was not prepared even though they had been warned that Russia would invade. They didn’t think Russia would invade due to the ‘chats’ other world leaders were having with Putin, yet they amounted to nothing and cost lives. Perhaps Zelenskyy was too confident of the powers of the other world leaders and that was his downfall?
Now we have NATO playing a role in this war as they takeover from the US who no longer have funding to send weapons to Ukraine. Then we add Trump’s comments that have been critical of NATO, suggesting that the members that haven’t paid enough shouldn’t get protection, thus, potentially encouraging Russia to invade them. Those countries include Germany and France, whereas the Baltic states have been increasing their security protocols and closing their borders already.
Stoltenberg for NATO has now warned that the world should expect decades of confrontation from Russia and should be prepared for such events. For someone who didn’t make a statement until 6 weeks into the invasion, perhaps he and NATO have realised that they are the only hope for Ukraine, but are still not ready to fully commit and admit it. I believe it will cost lives of more Ukrainians (similar to NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina where mass deaths were occurring) for NATO to intervene.
It’s wrong to see so many young Ukrainian men dying to save their country, but who is there to replace them? A whole generation os being wiped out, and those who survive are likely to have been draft dodgers unless they have medical exemptions (but who knows if they are genuine or fake). I do think Zelenskyy got it wrong and wasn’t prepared for a war, and Ukraine wasn’t even prepared to defend itself. Over the past couple of years, we have seen how poorly prepared the Ukrainian army was, and how deep the corruption was/is within the government that enabled the invasion. Where will Ukraine get the soldiers they need? The only answer is NATO, but no one wants to discuss that, but it is inevitable if Ukraine is to defeat Russia for good.
Day 716 (9 Feb)
A day after firing General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Zelenskyy awarded him the Hero of Ukraine award with the Gold Star. This was seen as a sign of unity as the move by Zelenskyy was unpopular as he claimed it was time for a reset.
The Tucker Carlson interview with Putin was released on 8 February 2024, and served as a propaganda platform for Putin. Carlson barely asked questions as Putin stated that the aim was to de-nazify Ukraine and in order to that he needed control of Ukraine. This has been Putin’s justification of the war, and is hardly going to encourage Ukrainian men to return to Ukraine to fight.
In the interview, Putin compared the situation to how Hitler believed that Poland provoked Germany into attacking Poland Poland has taken exception to this disinformation, as Putin claims Ukraine forced Russia into the war.
A delegation from the Nordic and Baltic countries visited Congress in the US to persuade them to continue supporting Ukraine. Representatives from Estonia, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania, and attended the meetings in, but appear to have left empty-handed.
The US has said that they have continued to support Ukraine via the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) by sending missiles and other equipment via third parties.
In Italy, Beretta has continued to export arms to Russia through its subsidiaries. This is clear that sanctions can be avoided and have continued with no intervention.
Zelenskyy has also announced a new chief of general staff, Major General Anatoliy Barhilevych, at the request of the new Commander in chief. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Russia is using Starlink terminals on the frontline for military purposes contrary to what Starlink says is not permitted when there were issues with Ukraine using Starlinks. SpaceX says they have not supplied Russia with any equipment and that Russia must have purchased them from other sources. However, they still have the ability to track the terminals and the source but don’t appear to have done so.
A delegation from the US Congress visited Kyiv to assure Ukraine of continued US support even though they can’t get a bill passed for more funding.Two Republicans and two Democrats were in the party.
Another prisoner exchange took place where 100 Ukrainian soldiers were returned.
Reports state that Russians have killed more PoW in Donetsk which are war crimes. One surrendered with his hands up and was shot and another was killed by a grenade.
Day 717 (10 Feb)
Russia attacks residential buildings in Kharkiv. Among the dead are a local prosecutor and her family who were burned alive. Russian snipers hit a gas station that led to a large fire that spread to residential homes, killing several people. This was a deliberate attack on civilians.
General Carsten Breuer of Germany has stated that they should get ready for war with Russia within the next 5 years as Russia will seek to expand the war outside of Ukraine. Other countries estimate 3 years, but the general consensus is that war with Russia will happen in 3-5 years time.
Stoltenberg on Russia:
The west does not seek war with Russia, but should still prepare ourselves for a confrontation that could lost decades.
Day 718 (11 Feb)
Trump, who is running to be the US president this year has made a comment that encouraged aggressors to invade NATO countries that haven’t paid their share of the costs, citing that they haven’t paid for the protection and shouldn’t get it. The White House has criticised the comments and have said it undermines the security of NATO, while Stoltenberg said such. statement puts US and European troops at risk by suggesting the alliance will pick and choose who it will defend.
Turkish F-16s, that were stationed in Romania, were scrambled on 10 February 2024 due to drone strikes in Odesa.
In Ireland, the government has stopped the Russian embassy from rotating staff as diplomats are suspected spies. No visas will be issued for new staff to try and prevent espionage.
Day 719 (12 Feb)
Another Russian drone has been found in Moldova, this time with 50kg of explosives.
Elon Musk denies that SpaceX has sold any Starlinks to Russia either directly or indirectly, but this is ‘to the best of their knowledge’.
A delegation from the IMF arrived in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s financial situation and what is feasible.
Reports claim that Iran is training drone operators in Syria to be used against Ukraine. Russia is enlisting the aid of troops from outside of the country, and if Ukraine doesn’t do the same then how can Ukraine defeat Russia?
In other reports, mobilisation is also failing as social media posts tell people when the conscription team arrives in an area and all the men go underground. If they haven’t volunteered, why would they do so now when the US has stopped funding for now and where there is a shortage of ammunition?