The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was confident this Friday of victory against Russia after the commander in chief of the Armed Forces, Valeri Zaluzhni, assured that the war is at a stalemate that the Kremlin can take advantage of.
“I have confidence in you, exactly the same as on February 24 (2022, when the invasion began). I am confident that Ukraine will win. Trust in you,” Zelensky said in his daily television address.
The statements of Zaluzhni, the senior official most respected by the Ukrainian people, have caused a political earthquake in Kiev, where, according to some Western media such as Time magazine, doubts seem to spread, especially after the counteroffensive launched on June 4 was has stagnated.
This also coincides with the powerful Russian offensive in the heart of Donbas and in the eastern region of Kharkiv, and the resumption of massive missile and drone attacks against civil and military infrastructure on the eve of the arrival of winter.
The head of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksi Danilov, on Friday supported Zaluzhny’s words that the Ukrainian Army needs to achieve a technological advantage in the face of Russian military superiority, especially in the skies.
“We have a quite complicated situation. Therefore, I believe that General Zaluzhni is right. We have talked about it on many occasions, including in the General Staff meetings, that we need new approaches,” he said in statements to Radio Libertad.
Danilov stressed that Western weapons arrive slowly to Kiev, while Russia has already turned to Iran and North Korea, from where it could have already received a million projectiles and even ballistic missiles, according to South Korean sources.
At the same time, he denied that pessimism has taken hold of the Ukrainian authorities and the generals.
“I know all the members of the General Staff. Without exception. I can say that I do not know anyone who does not believe in our victory. Note that 90% of its members are generals,” he stated.
The White House assured that the statements by the commander in chief of the Armed Forces demonstrate “how important it is to continue helping Ukraine.”
“It would be much easier to do so if Congress approved additional funding to support Ukraine,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
Along the same lines, General Christian Freuding, planning director of the German Ministry of Defense, assured: “For us it is clear, we support Ukraine as well as Israel.”
He recalled that the Israeli is a “well-equipped and trained” army, which is ready to fight at any time, in addition to the fact that its economic potential is different from that of Kiev, as is “the very nature of the conflict.”
“One thing is clear, military support for Ukraine is a mission that must last until the end of this decade (…) Our budget plans already include the allocation of funds until 2032, which is a testament to our firmness. For “For me, the fight for freedom has no expiration date,” he said.
The day before, Germany guaranteed a new shipment of weapons to kyiv, which includes armored vehicles and IRIS-T air defense systems, although not the long-awaited Taurus.
In this regard, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmitro Kuleba, highlighted this Friday that Berlin still needs more time to send the long-range missiles to kyiv.
Precisely, according to satellite images, Russia has considerably increased the production rate of its weapons industry, from helicopters to drones and guided missiles.
After it was confirmed that 6% of GDP in 2024 will be dedicated to defense, the Western press reports the activation of work at the aviation plants in Kazan, Ural and Irkutsk, the missile factory in Dubna, north of Moscow , and the Kronstadt and Izhevsk drone factories.
In response, the United States on Thursday announced sanctions against individuals and companies from China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that provide technology and equipment for “the Russian war machine.”
In turn, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced today that it has simplified the quality controls required of weapons manufacturers to speed up the supply process to the Armed Forces.
With the new regulations, manufacturers will not, for example, have to subject their products to the period of between six months and one year that was required until now to guarantee that they could be stored safely.