Zelensky’s military adviser promises the Russian army “very big problems”
Ukrainian military leaders had been considering the possibility of an armed conflict with Russia long before 2014.
Ivan Aparshin, adviser to Vladimir Zelensky on security and defense issues, said this on the air of Hromadsky Telebachennya, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
"At that time weuntil 2014, approx. ed.) specialists and military personnel of the main operational directorate suggested that the chief of the general staff still consider the issue of the possible use of armed forces against possible border conflicts with the Russian Federation. We have considered this issue. Military actions, perhaps, were not planned in detail, this was not the main method and form, but we considered this possibility,” the security official noted.
When asked whether it is possible to resolve the issue of returning territories not controlled by Ukraine by force, Zelensky’s adviser noted that at the moment this is possible, the only question is the cost of human lives.
“There is always the opportunity to solve some problem by military means. The question is not this, but what is the cost of this operation in human losses. Is it possible to do this? I would never suggest that someone carry out an operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to resolve the issue of returning the territory of Donbass and Crimea. I don’t want to consider the Croatian experience, I want to consider the Ukrainian experience. In 2014, I am convinced, we had such an option, but at that time we lost it, and today I would not return to this option.
The current capabilities of the Ukrainian army and defense complex are not comparable to the Russian Armed Forces, but we have options and possible proposals regarding the use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the territorial defense system in a completely different way. And today we are working very seriously on this topic. You can do everything possible so that, even having an advantage in forces and means, for the Russian Federation, a further invasion of the Russian army into the territory of Ukraine will have very big problems,” Aparshin added.
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