Zaluzhnyi names key problems of Armed Forces of Ukraine to be solved in 2024

2 February, 2024 Ukrainian military. Photo credits: 115th Territorial Defense Brigade The Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, expressed his vision of important changes in the conduct of the war against Russian invaders in 2024.

This is stated in the article by the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of Ukraine "On the Modern Design of Military Operations in the Russo-Ukrainian War: In the Fight for the Initiative". According to Zaluzhnyi, this year Ukraine should focus its main efforts, in particular, on creating a system for providing Ukrainian Defense Forces with high-tech equipment. Ukraine should focus on implementing a new philosophy of preparing for and conducting military operations, taking into account existing limitations.

And therefore, to master new capabilities for conducting combat operations as soon as possible.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Photo from open sources

Valerii Zaluzhnyi noted that in addition to improving the effectiveness of combat operations, unmanned and other advanced technological systems are able to solve numerous key problems in the organization of and conducting combat operations of Ukrainian Defense Forces:

• increase the degree of non-contact conduct of hostilities and, as a result, reduce the level of losses due to the possibility of remote control of these assets;
• reduce the degree of involvement of traditional weapons in combat
  missions;
• ensure the conduct of hostilities with limited use of heavy military
  equipment;
• despite the lack of navy vessels, defeat both surface and submarine forces of the enemy and its coastal infrastructure to almost the entire depth of the theater at sea with high efficiency and minimal risk to personnel;
• inflict massive sudden strikes against critical infrastructure facilities, important communications without the use of expensive in operation and production missiles and manned aircraft.

The Commander-in-Chief emphasises that in modern conditions, Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with other components of State Defence Forces, have capabilities that allow not only to destroy the enemy, but also ensure the existence of statehood itself. "Therefore, it is extremely necessary to take advantage of the opportunities provided by new conditions of war to maximize the accumulation of the latest combat capabilities that will allow less resources to inflict maximum damage on the enemy, stop his aggression and protect Ukraine from it in the future," concluded General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Also, according to Zaluzhnyi, the main reason for the change in the strategy, forms and methods of employment of forces, of course, is the development of weapons and equipment, especially unmanned systems. He noted that the use of technology, including various types of drones, is crucial in modern warfare.

UAVs of the Ukrainian military, obtained within the framework of the Army of Drones project. November 2023.

Photo credits: Mykhailo Fedorov.

In addition to improving the effectiveness of combat operations, unmanned and other advanced technological systems are able to solve numerous key problems in the organization of and conducting combat operations of Ukrainian Defence Forces.

"Therefore, unmanned systems, along with other advanced types of weapons, are almost the only tool for withdrawing from military operations of a positional form, which are not beneficial in terms of time for Ukraine for a set of reasons," General Zaluzhnyi noted.