Latest news with #ValeriiZaluzhnyi
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Multiple injuries as Russia attacks Kyiv with drones and missiles
Kyiv came under heavy drone and missile attack by Russian forces overnight into Saturday, triggering fires and injuring at least eight people, the Ukrainian capital's mayor said. Explosions and machine-gun fire were heard throughout the city and many Kyiv residents took shelter in underground subway stations. Debris fell in at least four districts, said the Kyiv military administration, with six people requiring medical care. Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it. Russia and Ukraine on Friday began a major, complicated exchange of military prisoners of war and civilians, write Peter Beaumont and Pjotr Sauer. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend. Russia's defence ministry said it received the same number from Ukraine. Ukraine should focus on fighting a 'hi-tech war of survival' that minimises losses of its personnel and not expect to recapture Russian-occupied territory, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former head of Ukraine's armed forces. Zaluzhnyi, who is the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, said Ukraine should be 'using a minimum of economic means to achieve maximum benefit … Ukraine is not capable of another war in terms of demography and economy, and we shouldn't even entertain the thought.' Peter Beaumont reports that Ukraine's military has announce the expansion of a 'drone wall' or 'drone line' to counter Russian forces. A €150bn (£126bn/$170bn) loans programme to rearm Europe was finalised this week. Member states can request EU-backed loans under the €150bn security action for Europe (Safe) scheme, which was approved on Wednesday. It is part of an €800bn rearmament plan drawn up after Donald Trump interrupted US military aid to Ukraine. Once the loans agreement is rubber-stamped next week, EU member states have six months to draw up plans for defence projects. 'Member states will take those loans …. and will use them for joint procurement together with Ukraine and for Ukrainian needs,' Andrius Kubilius, the EU's defence commissioner, told the Guardian's Jennifer Rankin. Russia's foreign minister said it would send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement once their prisoner swap was complete. Sergei Lavrov didn't say what those terms would be and the Kremlin has shown no sign of walking back its maximalist demands. Ukraine's military general staff said it hit a Russian battery-manufacturing facility in the Lipetsk region which it said supplied Russia's missile and bomb manufacturers. It struck the Energiya plant in the city of Yelets, it said on Telegram on Friday. 'The shutdown of Energiya may leave some of the Russian occupiers' military equipment and weapons without critical batteries.' A Russian military court in the western city of Ryazan has jailed a Russian-Italian man for 29 years after finding him guilty of terrorism-related charges and blowing up a freight train in 2023 at Ukraine's behest, Russian state media reported. The RIA news agency cited Ruslan Sidiki's lawyer as saying his client had partially admitted his guilt. Russian-language news outlets have in the past reported that Sidiki admitted his actions but denied intent to harm anyone or acting on anyone else's orders. He viewed his actions as sabotage rather than terrorism and himself as a prisoner of war, those reports said.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine ‘should focus on hi-tech war of survival rather than recapturing territory'
Ukraine's ambassador to the UK has said Kyiv should focus on fighting a 'hi-tech war of survival' that minimises the loss of its military personnel and not expect to recapture Russian-occupied territory, including Crimea and in the Donbas. The comments by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former head of Ukraine's armed forces, comes during an apparently widespread effort from Ukrainian officials to reset public expectations over the progress of a war that has ground on for more than three years amid fears there is no end in sight to the fighting. Zalzhnyi's comments, made at a forum in Kyiv on Thursday that he addressed by video, mark a change in emphasis from earlier in the conflict when Ukrainian leaders were insistent that the country needed to liberate all Russian-occupied land including Crimea. 'I hope that there are not people in this room who still hope for some kind of miracle or lucky sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, the borders of 1991 or 2022 and that there will be great happiness afterward,' the RBK Ukraine news site and other media quoted Zaluzhnyi telling the forum. 'We can speak only about a hi-tech war of survival, using a minimum of economic means to achieve maximum benefit,' he was quoted as saying. 'Ukraine is not capable of another war in terms of demography and economy, and we shouldn't even entertain the thought,' he added. Echoing recent remarks of other senior officials and analysts, Zaluzhnyi suggested Russia would continue fighting for as long as it had the resources and manpower, despite its heavy losses, while saying Ukraine should turn its efforts to minimising its own human losses through hi-tech means. 'My personal opinion is that the enemy still has resources, forces and means to launch strikes on our territory and attempt specific offensive operations,' he said. Zaluzhnyi was replaced as Ukraine's top commander in February 2024 after months of reported disagreements between him and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Opinion polls show Zaluzhnyi to be among the most popular public figures with Ukrainians. Polls also show Zelenskiy's rating rising since his confrontation with Donald Trump at a White House meeting in February. Zaluzhnyi's comments follow the announcement in March by Ukraine's armed forces that it planned to rapidly expand the use of a 'drone wall' or 'drone line' to counter Russian forces. Explaining the concept earlier this week, the former Australian general Mick Ryan depicted the proposed drone wall as 'designed to provide a continuous defensive corridor of drones along Ukraine's most vulnerable frontiers to inflict significant casualties on Russian forces, and act as a deterrent against aggression in quieter areas of the frontline'. Writing in his Futura Doctrina newsletter, Ryan said: 'For some time, Ukrainian officials have discussed the creation of a drone line, or as has it has been described more recently, a drone wall, along the frontline. This drone wall is designed to establish a 10-15-kilometre-wide zone which, according to recent comments by the Ukrainian defence minister, offers ir support and cover to the infantry, that makes the enemy's advance unattainable without losses.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion While adding that Ukraine had already made extensive use of drones in pursuit of this objective, he continued: 'Until recently, the enormous scope of drone operations across the frontline was not envisaged or constructed as a single technological entity.' His comments came as the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Friday that Moscow would not allow Russian-speakers in Ukraine to remain under the rule of what he called a 'junta' led by President Zelenskyy. Lavrov said it would be a 'crime' for Russia to allow this to happen. He added that the simplest way to settle the conflict would be for the international community to demand that Ukraine cancel laws discriminating against Russian-speakers. Kyiv denies any such discrimination. Lavrov's comments highlighted Russia's insistence, in any peace talks, on enforcing the same demands it made at the start of the war. He also appeared to also dismiss Donald Trump's suggestion of Vatican mediation to end the conflict. Reuters contributed to this article
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine can only wage a 'high-tech war of survival' against Russia, Zaluzhnyi says
Ukraine cannot expect to return Russian-occupied territories as long as Moscow has the resources to continue its war, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the U.K., said on May 22. Speaking via video at a forum in Kyiv, Zaluzhnyi said that Ukraine can only wage a "high-tech war of survival" using a minimum of human and economic resources. "Ukraine is not capable of (fighting) another war in terms of demography and economy, and we shouldn't even entertain the thought," the ambassador added. According to Zaluzhnyi, the only way to win the war is to destroy Russia's military and economic potential to wage it. "I hope there is no one left in this hall still waiting for a miracle — for some white swan to bring peace to Ukraine, restore the borders of 1991 or 2022, and after that there will be great happiness in Ukraine," Zaluzhnyi said. He believes that as long as Russia has the resources, manpower, and capability to strike Ukrainian territory and launch offensives, it will continue to do so. Ukraine's leadership has consistently vowed to restore the country's 1991 borders, which includes the liberation of Crimea and parts of the Donbas occupied by Russia since 2014. After the failed 2023 counteroffensive and U.S.'s foreign policy shift this year, Kyiv adjusted its rhetoric. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this February that Russia has to pull back its troops to at least the front line as it was before the 2022 invasion. In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale war, further occupying territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as partially occupying territories in Kharkiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Read also: Editorial: Russia just said it doesn't want peace. This is what you need to do We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: G7 finance chiefs threaten further sanctions on Russia
G7 finance chiefs condemned what they called Russia's 'continued brutal war' against Ukraine and said that if efforts to achieve a ceasefire failed, they would explore all possible options, including 'further ramping up sanctions.' The description of the Ukraine war was watered down from the prior G7 statement issued in October, before Donald Trump's re-election, calling it an 'illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.' Trump has diminished US support for Ukraine and has made statements suggesting that Kyiv was to blame for the conflict as he tries to coax Russia into peace talks. Ukraine should abandon any notion of restoring its borders established with the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule or even those dating from the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion, the country's former military commander was quoted as saying on Thursday. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine's ambassador to London, was replaced as top commander in February 2024 after months of reported disagreements between him and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 'I hope that there are not people in this room who still hope for some kind of miracle or lucky sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, the borders of 1991 or 2022 and that there will be great happiness afterward,' the RBK Ukraine news site quoted Zaluzhnyi as telling a forum in Kyiv. 'My personal opinion is that the enemy still has resources, forces and means to launch strikes on our territory and attempt specific offensive operations.' Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned on Thursday that Russia threatened security in Europe as he visited Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany's first permanent overseas military unit since the second world war, aimed at bolstering Nato's eastern flank. The decision to build up a 5,000-strong armoured brigade in Lithuania over the coming years came in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 'There is a threat to us all from Russia,' Merz told reporters in Vilnius. Russia has appointed a key commander of the gruelling siege of Mariupol, Gen Andrey Mordvichev, as head of the ground forces, the official newspaper of the Russian army reported on Thursday. Defence minister Andrey Belousov described the 49-year-old general as 'an experienced combat officer who fully demonstrated his talent as a military commander during the special military operation,' using Moscow's term for its Ukraine offensive, according to the Red Star newspaper. Russia said it had shot down 159 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including about 20 headed towards Moscow, between 8 am and 8 pm on Thursday. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones. Three Moscow airports – Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky – suspended flights intermittently. The EU on Thursday ordered temporary measures for Ukrainian farm imports after failing to agree on a new long-term accord with the Ukrainian government. The EU gave tariff-free access to most Ukrainian agricultural imports after Russia's 2022 invasion to help the Ukrainian economy. But European farmers say the Ukrainian produce unfairly undercuts their own. The initial agreement with Ukraine is set to expire on 5 June, and both sides appear unable to reach an agreement before the deadline. EU lawmakers meanwhile approved tariffs on fertiliser imports from Russia on Thursday, despite European farmers' fears the move could send prices soaring. The European parliament voted 411-100 for a bill that will enact duties in July and gradually increase them to a point where they would make imports unviable. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the move showed that the Europeans 'continue, as always, to shoot themselves in the foot'.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's former commander in chief warns that modern warfare is 'far from what NATO is now operating'
Ukraine's former top military commander warned that NATO's warfare model is outdated. NATO's tactics need a major overhaul to match Ukraine's battlefield innovations, Valerii Zaluzhnyi said. He also called into question the effectiveness of NATO's principle of collective defense. NATO's current model of warfare is far removed from what is happening on the battlefield today, according to the former commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, delivered a warning to the country's Western allies about the rapidly changing nature of modern warfare — amid what he described as the disintegration of the rules-based world order. This isn't just about updating defense industries or "some rearmament," he told the London Defence Conference at King's College London on Friday. "You need a new state policy." This means a root-and-branch refresh of tactics, organization, doctrines, training, and budgeting, Zaluzhnyi said, per a transcript of his comments published by Ukrainska Pravda. "All this requires not only additional resources, but also, most importantly, additional time," he added. Ukraine's Western allies have increasingly seen the war in Ukraine as a laboratory for modern warfare, one that provides a host of lessons. Military experts have told Business Insider that Russia's performance in Ukraine shows that NATO's air dominance could well be tested in a future conflict. NATO and Western defense officials have also said that alongside large-scale, expensive systems central to their capabilities, the alliance needs masses of cheap, expendable weapons like drones. But Zaluzhnyi said that lessons like these aren't being adopted fast enough in the West. Despite drones playing a transformative role in the defense of Ukraine, Zaluzhnyi said that he wasn't just referring to "drones taking over the battlefield." He said that if NATO stopped using tanks in favor of more high-tech means of warfare, it would still take about five years to catch up with Ukraine's abilities. "But technology will move on during this time. And so will the enemies," Zaluzhnyi added. Zaluzhnyi likened what is needed to "the days of nuclear energy mastery or space exploration," and said that the next step is to "build a completely new security architecture for Europe." He also said that Europe needs Ukraine as a shield, since it has the biggest army on the continent, and is the "only one with an army that knows how to wage modern, high-tech warfare." While some countries may have a technological advantage in certain areas, he said, "none of them will be able to secure their own independence in the full range of modern defence technologies." This is also playing out against the backdrop of "destructive trends in the global security system" that have weakened the power of NATO's Article 5, Zaluzhnyi said. His remarks, made in London, came as the UK gears up for a planned overhaul of its defense policy. The UK has pledged to raise its defense spending to 3% of GDP, if economic conditions allow. NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider
