Ukraine may get to pre-war lines if more weapons provided, says Ukraine’s army commander
Valery Zaluzhnyi (Photo:Головнокомандувач ЗС України/CinC AF of Ukraine)
It is completely realistic for Ukraine to get to the lines of Feb. 23 if more weapons are provided to the country, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with the UK weekly newspaper The Economist on Dec. 15.
“I get what I get, but it is less than what I need,” he said.
According to Zaluzhnyi, with the kind of resources he has available at present he can’t conduct new big operations.
“I know that I can beat this enemy,” the officer said.
“But I need resources. I need 300 tanks, 600-700 IFVs (infantry fighting vehicles), 500 howitzers. Then, I think it is completely realistic to get to the lines of Feb. 23. But I can’t do it with two brigades.”
“It is not yet time to appeal to Ukrainian soldiers in the way that Mannerheim appealed to Finnish soldiers,” Zaluzhnyi added, referring to Finnish wartime military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim’s famous appeal to his troops of Aug. 8, 1944.
“We can and should take a lot more territory.”
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