Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny
She added that those at the top just want to mobilize tens of thousands of people every month without a clear understanding of what should be done in the ongoing conflict between Kiev and Moscow.
“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has failed to present a (strategic) plan for 2024,” Ms. Bezuglaya wrote in a post on her Facebook page, referring to Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny. The general had absolutely no concept of further conflict, she declared, adding that he had no plans for any kind of war, “whether large or small… asymmetrical or symmetrical”.
The senior lawmaker said such a stance by the military leadership is a major obstacle for lawmakers when planning the national budget for next year. Bezuglaya revealed that problems have been increasing both in parliament and at the headquarters of the military leadership, at least since the summer.
At the time, the Ukrainian army was conducting a large-scale military offensive launched in early June. The campaign was largely unsuccessful because it did not allow Kiev troops to gain any major territory. but led to heavy losses for the Ukrainian side in both manpower and equipment, including dozens of Western-supplied weapons such as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
According to Bezuglaya, General Zaluzhny and other top commanders have so far not presented any detailed plans on training, future troop rotations or on the funding needed for several new brigades that they plan to establish.
Instead, the Ukrainian army “simply said that it would need to enlist no less than 20,000 citizens per month,” the senior lawmaker added.
“If the military leadership cannot come up with any plans for 2024 and all its mobilization proposals lead to the fact that more people are needed without any… changes to the system Armed Forces, then this (military) leadership must go,” Bezuglaya said.
The faction of the presidential party in parliament refused to make any comments on Bezuglaya’s words when approached by the Ukrainian newspaper ‘Pravda’.
In early November, General Zaluzhny admitted in an interview with The Economist that the situation on the front lines was essentially a World War I-style stalemate. He also said that Russia has the upper hand in this type of war thanks to its abundant human resources and abundant material resources. This assessment was later rejected by President Zelensky.
The president also warned the nation’s military leadership to stay away from politics or risk damaging “national unity.”
Earlier this week, Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) reported that Western supporters of Ukraine had encouraged Kiev to expand its draft efforts and recruit the elderly, teenagers and women into the army. The new draft is said to be needed to replace heavy losses suffered by Kiev’s army in a largely unsuccessful counteroffensive in the summer.
