Ukraine's military considering new strategy to move forward, Zelensky says.
Ukraine is considering a shift in its military strategy to "move forward faster" and strike Russia "unexpectedly," President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News on Nov.
5. Zelensky rebuffed recent suggestions that the war had entered an impasse, contrasting with the opinion of Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, expressed in an interview and an op-ed published by the Economist on Nov.
1. The pieces emerged five months after the Ukrainian military started the much-anticipated counteroffensive in early June.
Focused on several axes in the east and south of the country, the large-scale operation brought limited gains. Zaluzhnyi's interview and op-ed offered a sobering view on the state of the war, including by referring to the current situation as a "stalemate," which Zelensky denied. "I don't think that this is a stalemate," Zelensky said.
In his op-ed, Zaluzhnyi warned that the Russian-Ukrainian war was moving to a "positional" stage. This new stage is characterized by "static and attritional fighting" that will allow Russia to restore its military power. During the interview with NBC News, Zelensky admitted Ukraine's progress had been slow and there was "a fatigue" as the war stretched on, but he said Ukraine's military was still more motivated than the Russians.
Zaluzhnyi: Ukraine must escape from 'trap' of prolonged war
Ukraine needs specific support from the West now that the war is in danger of moving to a "positional" stage, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, wrote in an opinion piece for the Economist on Nov.
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Zelensky repeated his calls for more air defense systems and drones from the allies. Ukraine has started producing some drones but needs more, he said. Ukrainians would find it difficult to "step forward" without such help, Zelensky said, insisting on the importance of Western support to prevent Russia from destroying Ukraine.
"If Russia will kill all of us, they will attack NATO countries, and you will send your sons and daughters. And it will be -- I'm sorry, but the price will be higher," he said. "It's very important not to lose the will, not to lose this strong position, and not to lose your democracy," Zelensky said.
He also accused Russia of sponsoring Hamas, adding that the "whole world should do all they can to stop this (Israel-Hamas) war" in Gaza.
Southern counteroffensive runs out of steam as West scrambles to deliver aid As fall weather arrives, observers are looking at the status of Ukraine's three-pronged counteroffensive, which continues to move very slowly. Ukrainian forces have yet to fully break through Russia's defensive lines and fight to their target cities -- Tokmak, Berdiansk, and Vasylivka.
Their tempo i...
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