2023-11-02 10:57:00
He thus compares the current situation on the battlefield to that of the 14-18 war. “Just like during the First World War, we have reached a technological level that puts us in an impasse,” he says. The general sees only one possibility to get out of the quagmire his men are sinking into. : “We need something new, like the gunpowder invented by the Chinese and which we still use to kill each other.”
“Ukrainian soldiers are worried. The situation has completely changed”
What if the solution was found in a book?
Valeri Zaluzhny explains how he came to such a conclusion. “At first I thought something was wrong with our commanders, so I changed some of them. Then I thought that perhaps some soldiers were not suited to their mission, so I transferred men from one brigade to another,” he tells The Economist.
But nothing works. The strongman of the Ukrainian army does not observe any significant changes on the front. It was then that he got his hands on a book dating from 1941, written by a Soviet general, analyzing the combat during the First World War. “Before even reading half of it, I understood that this was exactly what we were experiencing,” he explains, emphasizing that, as at the time, technological development was plunging the troops in a stalemate.
However, an innovation would not be enough to unblock the fight, according to the general. Rather, he talks regarding a combination of technological advances, citing in particular progress in drones and mine-clearing equipment.
Zelensky feels abandoned by the West: “Part of the world has become accustomed to the war in Ukraine”
A mistake in the counter-offensive
Finally, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian army admits having made an “error” in his way of apprehending the enemy for this counter-offensive. Counting on a significant number of deaths in the Russian ranks, Mr. Zalouzhny thought he might force Vladimir Putin to head to the negotiating table. “Russia lost at least 150,000 men. In any other country, such losses would have ended the war,” he explains. But not Russia…
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