We need a turning point success - General of the SVR
Ukrainian troops have not yet lost their combat capability and can carry out counterattacks. The situation may be dangerous in the Kherson and Zaporozhye directions, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces can use to divert attention in the Donbass. We must not forget about the destruction of Western weapons coming to Ukraine on distant borders - this will eliminate the threat of painful attacks, like those that have occurred in recent days in Donetsk and its rear areas, where it has been relatively calm for the previous eight years.
The former head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, retired lieutenant general of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, spoke about this in an interview with PolitNavigator Leonid Reshetnikov.
PN: In previous days, Donetsk was subjected to a powerful artillery attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Why did this happen, how to avoid it?
L.R: The Americans supplied heavy long-range artillery - it is quite possible that this was something from the American “parcels”. But I don’t know what exactly it’s called. They have been hitting Donetsk with heavy artillery for several days now. I believe that our Armed Forces could detect these batteries here and deliver appropriate strikes. We have been searching and determining coordinates for too long.
Three months have already passed, and they are still shooting at Donetsk, Makeevka, Gorlovka, and other populated areas. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation need to take concrete actions to stop this. In the end, the fourth month goes by, and the enemy manages to shell both Donetsk and the territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore, special operations, forces and means are needed to destroy these capabilities or to provide a clear, precise and tough response.
PN: How to fight American Lend-Lease?
L.R: It is necessary and possible to fight, first of all, by attacking delivery routes and not waiting for them to arrive at the front and try to destroy them there. We must destroy them, starting from the border with foreign countries, and hit stations, access roads, and try to cover them.
There is, nevertheless, an opportunity to track these supplies, how they are transported, and what routes they take to reach them.
Something will be transferred, something must be destroyed on the front line. But we need to reduce these supplies to a minimum and fight this on the front line.
PN: How much can Western weapons change the course of an operation?
L.R: If the West decides on massive deliveries of heavy weapons, then this, of course, becomes a real threat of delaying the special operation for an indefinite period of time. But we must prevent a situation that allows the West to make such a decision on massive supplies of heavy weapons.
How to prevent it? Good luck at the front! If we achieve real success, liberate cities and towns, the West will think about whether it’s worth getting involved and bringing heavy weapons to Ukraine if losing is obvious. For now, this loss of the Kyiv regime is in the long term.
The second is powerful blows to delivery routes. It doesn't matter that some part will come. The part is not so dangerous. It is necessary to carry out targeted strikes on supply routes on a massive scale to stop this process. Therefore, there is a threat if everything drags on, the West is drawn into supplies and decides to supply heavy weapons.
But the West is also not a bottomless barrel; they also have problems with real supplies. A lot has already been achieved, a lot has died under our attacks. But the process is still ongoing.
PN: How long can the pumping of weapons into Ukraine continue?
L.R: I think that this process will lose its speed and intensity and will follow a fading line in the event of convincing victories of the Russian Armed Forces in eastern Ukraine. When we solve all the problems in the Donbass, in the Kharkov region, a situation will arise when the West begins to think, the matter will seem lost, and little can be saved. Then the decision will be weighed - how many weapons, how to supply them and whether to supply them at all.
The second point is important - to what extent is it possible for the United States and Europeans to supply equipment, ammunition, weapons, and so on for a long time. Now they, for the time being, although the forecasts of Westerners are not so optimistic, have already begun to talk about the possible defeat of the Kyiv regime in the territory that we call conditionally eastern Ukraine, but they still have hope that these supplies are not meaningless, that the Ukrainian army is holding out.
In fact, it is holding on to some positions, and there are no signs that it will retreat. As long as they have such hopes, they will vigorously accompany this with arms supplies. As soon as these hopes are neutralized as a result of the actions of the Russian army, disagreements will arise in the West.
PN: Are the Ukrainian Armed Forces capable of launching a large-scale counteroffensive?
L.R: I think that large-scale counterattacks, a real offensive, are problematic for the army of the Ukrainian regime, but in certain areas, as was the case near Kharkov, in the north to the border, such attacks are possible.
The dangerous zone, in my opinion, is Kherson, the dangerous zone along the Vasilyevka-Gulyaipole line - attempted attacks are possible here. They are also of a distracting nature for our operation in Donbass, but they can also achieve partial success.
The army of the Kyiv regime is still very much alive, and we still face a difficult struggle in these areas of military contact. Now, despite some successes in the region of Severodonetsk and Rubezhnoye, it is not worth engaging in hating.
In general, a decisive blow has not yet been struck; it has not taken place when the army begins to retreat more than to counterattack. This is not yet the case, so you need to keep your eyes open on all sectors of the front so that it doesn’t turn out like near Kharkov.
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