Activist says how Ukrainians should prepare for hostilities after mobilization in Russia
Deoccupied Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast. September 19, 2022 (Photo:Kostiantyn Liberov and Vlada Liberova/instagram)
The consequences of mobilization in Russia will be felt by the entire people of Ukraine, not only the military, military and public activist Maria Berlinska said on Radio NV on Sept 25.
“The mobilization potential of Russia is estimated at 25 million,” Berlinska said. “And even if we’re talking only about a million at the moment, it means that if every fifth person mobilized becomes a soldier prepared for battle. That’s already an additional 200,000.”
Berlinska said that, despite drunkenness, corruption, low motivation, poor provision and other weaknesses of the Russian army, mobilization will still have an effect.
“Up to a million enemies will visit us,” she says. “This war will be long, terrible and exhausting, because this is a war of resources, and we objectively have less of them.... The war will be long and terrible, but … victorious, so get ready.... You must do specific things: you must be able to use a weapon, understand how to apply a tourniquet, understand medicine (at the level of providing) first aid, you must (master) basic tactical skills.”
She said there was a need for truthful communication between the Ukrainian authorities and the people. She said this will help everyone to properly prepare for the new threats that Ukrainians will face in the coming months.
In her opinion, people should be explained that in this situation everyone should join the fight: “You can’t sit and wait until the Armed Forces of Ukraine win, because on such a scale and with such figures, every person should join in. From high school students and students who need to understand how to target a drone on a Russian tank, to people of pre-retirement age who could transmit coordinates of the enemy via mobile phone to our military. The war is switching to a national scale.”
Berlinska said forecasts for future developments should not be based on the statements by politicians or experts, since, according to her, those who predicted the capture of Ukraine in three days are now saying how bad things are in Russia.
“In my opinion, one shouldn’t rely on the forecasts of Western experts, because they aren’t the ones to die in this war, nor their children,” the activist said.
“They watch the war online. Only Ukrainians feel the effect of this war directly, in their lives.”
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