"Tightening is not in our favor." We will not have rest until there is at least one Russian soldier in Ukraine - interview with Zagorodniuk

- How much can it be completed by the active phase of war before winter? Will it help us to maintain thermal power infrastructure, what are they talking about in the President's office? Suppose the front is getting up for the winter, but Russian planes are flying, enemy ships walk, rockets are launching, and we somehow cannot be particularly influenced. Video day - yes, of course, there is a risk, and very high.

Trying to stop it all before winter is, of course, right, but realistically we see that the Russians have the idea to use the winter period, to deprive Ukraine of energy resources as much as possible for additional pressure. These are the facts, they are talking about it, there is information about it and, unfortunately, we need to understand that it can be the reality in which we live in the winter. And not to comfort yourself that this risk can be predicted 100%.

It is necessary to pay attention to this partners, some partners already know about it, some do not. There are currently active conversations among embassies, diplomatic missions and abroad about the risks of the winter period of the campaign, but to completely control the situation and to prevent their harmful influence we do not have opportunities, it is absolutely known.

Of course, it is possible to take some actions to reduce the intensity of hostilities, but in any case we need to win, so we need to accumulate forces and means and push Russian forces from our territory. Whatever the phase, this task remains, it does not disappear. - Do you say that we are talking about it now with our partners, and how can they affect the situation? - The situation is extremely difficult, but it is very easy to describe.

While Russian troops are in our territory, we will not be rest, because they will take any action, they will take any pauses only to move on. Therefore, our task is to convince partners that there are no freezes, no long pauses and everything else, and the president also spoke about it. We need to finish as soon as possible, because delaying war is not in our favor.

Therefore, we [need] to receive the equipment, weapons, the military equipment we promised, in the shortest possible logistically possible period, and carry out actions to liberate our territories. This will still not change the enemy's strategic plans, but if they see that we have sufficient ability to repel, of course, it will give us a period for even more strengthening. This can be calm at least in some territories of Ukraine.

- Still, it is somehow unlikely to deny Ukraine by the end of the year. - Logistically, this is not real in general, so yes, unrealistic, I would say so. Of course, there are different options, but if you take the likelihood, I do not think it makes sense to count.

-So the question arises, first, what then will the events on the front in the winter look, or can it come in winter? - In the winter you can come, but let's just say, operational planning is in charge of our military command, these are different structural units that plan the operational activity of the Armed Forces.

There are different scenarios, different options and of course commenting on them is pointless, it is a purely decision of the military leadership, depending on the operational situation that will consist of that time. We have an extremely qualified command, I am sure they will make the best solution.

What will look like in winter, that is, in six months, the operational situation, it is impossible to say theoretically, because there are so many options that there is simply no point in spending time on it. - If we take the winter conditions on whose side, will the winter play conditionally and figuratively? -Any weather conditions will play on the side of the one who was better prepared for them. Of course, we have more chances because we are at home, all our infrastructure, we know it.

The Russians are stretched along the Great Front, potentially more than 2. 5 thousand kilometers, so not on their side this whole story. But we also have challenges, but of course, we will make it easier than them.

- If winter does not play on the side of the Russians, then most of them they will try again to talk about peace, about fixing the occupied territories behind themselves, a certain political process will begin, it will still be accompanied by an energy crisis in Europe, it will also be a certain pressure.

Obviously, we need to somehow communicate with our partners the thesis that peace with Russia will not be peace, but only a freezing of war, which will then become worse? - Unfortunately, so far, it is not surprising, you remember when the Davos Forum was, there was a Kissinger, all these events, then the idea of ​​some compromise was very actively pushing.

There was a great activity of both the Foreign Ministry and non -governmental organizations that just think a little a few steps before we actively promote the idea of ​​compromise.

And a large number of politicians refused to do so, because they understand, even ask the question: what do you think is a peace treaty with Russia? And the answer to this is the question: what do you want to write there? How do you see the text of this peace treaty? And when you ask this question, most of them stop because they cannot give normal text. If they talk about any compromises, they are people who do not think even a little.

And we would think that during this period, when this all the discussion had already passed in June, which could already be understood at least this strategic picture. But, unfortunately, we constantly have any politicians or diplomats, or any observers, public opinion leaders, say that they are constantly arising with the idea [of compromises]. This must be done.

I recently met with one delegation that really clearly asks: when do you think will be a contract for termination of war? And again we start the same story, we need to explain the same thing for different people constantly. Yes, indeed, this energy crisis will contribute to these people, because they will say "and we said it would be difficult. " We explain now, yes, it will be difficult, but we are not guilty of it, Ukraine should not be persuaded.

Go to Russia, persuade them, although it is unpromising, but if they want, let them make efforts there so that they are dealing with Ukraine, then everything will be normal. Yes, it is the reality, political reality of Europe now. - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in one of his previous video reports said that the invaders would flee from Kherson soon.

I will not ask about dates, the timeframes, apparently, ask: what challenges do we have now during the de -occupation of the Kherson Right Bank? - These are means of fire damage that are at the disposal of the enemy in that operating area. It is clear that they have them, increase, increase the presence and it creates very serious challenges. Our command of this, of course, knows that both foreign and domestic observers know about it. In principle, everything is quite clear here.

But we are confident in the qualification of our military leadership, they know how to do what to do. -Soon the Land Leam of the United States of America will work, will he change something in the situation on the fronts? We often hear that we do not have enough tanks, artillery for the counter -offensive, that the technique is suitable, but it is not a little bit not to do the offensive. - It is all that, the question in quantity is not enough.

We really have a huge length of the front, and if we take potentially dangerous areas where there are no fighting now, but they can potentially be conducted and we need to maintain a presence there, then we are talking about a very serious territory, so we are missing the number . It is not enough to create the required mass and to squeeze the enemy, to occupy the positions that we need to take according to the tasks.

Land ledge can potentially correct it, the only thing we need to understand is a tool that is that we are given equipment either for use or rental with redemption, or just leased without redemption. Currently, all weapons and military equipment are transferred to us as grant help, as a help without return and free of charge. The question of how the resource comes to us, whether it is for use or forever.

Everyone understands that submitting military equipment to the war zone with a return is a very relative prospect of this return, because it can be lost, damaged. There are many different reasons why this return may never happen. In addition, Ukraine needs to build constant capabilities, which is now being negotiated, capabilities that will already systematically strengthen Ukraine and will not allow Russia to repeat such attacks in general in the entire relevant perspective.

But Land League is a rather normal tool for implementing even such plans. The tool, the question, is not that the West has no resources and money to assist Ukraine. Those billions of dollars that are now being transmitted are not critical to the US budget. - And they have the weapons, what are they ready to give? - They have weapons, we know that the number of weapons is much smaller than we would like.

Indeed, if we are talking about modern wars, then most of the means of fire damage is on the means of tactical aviation, it is a fact. NATO plans first of all to gain fire advantage precisely through the strengthening of aviation. Aviations do not give us, so we all go on earth. They have fewer land because they have always been as auxiliary for NATO countries, including the United States, so the number of these agents is much smaller.

If we have artillery as a key tool, then in the US doctrine it is auxiliary, so they do not have a lot of artillery tools. Even production is very limited by the same M777, in the United States it is auxiliary weapon. Therefore, there is such a problem. But the amount we need to create a critical mass for a more or less large-scale but effective counter-offensive. The question is now that we have created the units that will use them. She came, it is a purely logistics part, and the political part.

They should finally decide on the format of our victory, with the format, how the fighting will take place in the near future. I think if we finally come to this issue, then we get it. I am sure it's just a matter of time. And in this case, we can really finish our counter -offensive actions. - Tell me, do we need to start producing something and do some factories of military equipment, given that we will always be nearby and will always try to occupy? It should not be a secret for anyone.

Is it possible to make certain movements in this direction in war? - It is possible to do. Of course, we cannot comment on what specifically movements can be done, what movements are made, but really time is not in place, of course, some directions are done, but it is impossible to comment. The only thing that can be said is that there is a lot of risks, because any production immediately becomes risky in terms of enemy attacks, bombing, missile, aviation strikes.

The only point is that in the future we have to provide ourselves at least the main, critical types of weapons produced either in Ukraine or in close proximity to Ukraine purely geographically, because from a logistics point to pull all equipment from the United States is difficult , expensive and inappropriate. I absolutely support the thesis that there is, as long as Putin is, he will try to capture Ukraine, so this strategic risk with us for a long time.

- There is also a collective Putin besides everything. - Yes, absolutely. - The General Staff reported that to fight against Ukraine agreed to 13 thousand former soldiers from Belarus. What does it mean? Does that the threat from the north has intensified? - There is always a threat from the north, it is from the first week of wars, we know everything. Of course, the Belarusian factor has always been like a clock mechanism that we just have to understand that it can work at any time.

Whoever agreed there, we do not talk about it how it agreed - too, these are propaganda stories. But we know that the pressure on the so -called President of Belarus is extremely strong to open the second front. This risk is unfortunately. We will look because it will be a disaster for them. As for Russia it became a catastrophe and the campaign they started on the 24th, it will be an even greater catastrophe for Belarus.

Because the death of even thousands, two thousand servicemen will be the first time in the history of Belarus since the Second World War, when they die in the battle of the military, and this will not decorate Belarusian history. It will be a shameful part and it can be the end of the mode that exists there. Not that we are very concerned about the regime, but this regime should think that they may be involved in this war for them very quickly.

- Do we understand, what are the plans of the enemy directly on the front? There are rumors constantly, [about plans] to capture that other city: Kryvyi Rih, Zaporozhye, Nikolaev. The Russians also make local offenses in the Donbass, moving many people to the right bank of Kherson region. What did the enemy think, how will he try to act? - There is an interesting story here, because we actually took the initiative.

How did it develop? Initially, in the first phase of war they opened at least 10 operating areas. These areas, of course, could not be supported at the same time, that is, they made a huge number of mistakes from the very beginning of the war that cost them very expensive. There is no point in listing here, there were a lot of them, as they planned to start a campaign.

After heavy losses, after the impossibility of achieving normal success in the vast majority of these areas, they stopped, regrouped and concentrated everything on one, it was the East of Ukraine. There they achieved some intermediate successes, but then stopped and at this time Ukraine began to threaten them in other areas. In Kharkiv we began to squeeze them and usually create our grouping, potentially threaten them in the south. They spanned and about a month ago began to throw their strength.

And again, they started operating in several directions at the same time, planning their actions at the same time. It is very dangerous for Russia because they cannot, their organizational structure is extremely centralized, it cannot work effectively in several directions at the same time, they are simply not capable of it. Oddly enough, it sounds for such a large army, the whole world is amazed at this, but it is a fact.

Therefore, we are talking about the third phase of war that began at the beginning of this month, and of course, that the prospects for the Russians are very bad because they will not be able to succeed at the same time both there and there. They are simply not organizational. Although they have very significant forces and means, they cannot be underestimated, but they have exactly their plans - they have already developed them based on the situation we created.