Zaluzhny: "Why should I ask someone for permission what to do in enemy territory?"

Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukraine would use weapons of its own production to carry out strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation.

He spoke about this in interview Washington Post:

“We will kill the enemy on his territory, but with our own weapons.”

The publication says that the main question that constantly faces the commander-in-chief is: “How to reduce losses? How can I reduce losses?”

The morning of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine begins the same way: he finds out how many Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded the day before, when they were following his orders. There are contacts on his phone, the owners of whose numbers will never be able to call or answer his call – they are dead. Zalugny does not remove them and says that he is postponing grief “for later.” The mourning will now distract him from his important work as the man whom Ukrainians trust for their security, and Western partners trust with billions of dollars in security assistance. Both expect him to recreate Ukraine’s former success on the battlefield.

According to the commander-in-chief, the newspaper writes, due to the lack of weapons, the absence of new Western aviation and the conditions of the allies for longer-range missiles (they cannot be used to strike at the territory of the Russian Federation), “the Armed Forces of Ukraine use Ukrainian-made weapons for frequent strikes across the border, which Kiev will never officially recognize.” Zaluzhny says:

“In order to save my people, why should I ask someone for permission what to do in enemy territory? Somehow I must think that I am not allowed to do anything there. Why? Because Putin … will use nuclear weapons? Children who die, it doesn’t matter… This is our problem, and it’s up to us to decide how to kill this enemy.In a war, you can and should kill on his territory.If our partners are afraid to use their weapons, we will kill with our own.But as much as will be necessary.”

Valery Zaluzhny promised to return the Crimea, even if the Western allies are against it. He told the Washington Post: “As soon as I have the funds, I will do something. I don’t care – no one will stop me.”

The problems facing Zaluzhny are significant; large swaths of the east and south, about a fifth of the country, remain occupied. Running a counter-offensive to reclaim the territory, defeat Russia and minimize Ukraine’s losses requires resources that Zaluzhny says he still lacks. Western officials say that Ukraine has enough funds to succeed, but Zaluzhny has been sharply critical of his colleagues, who have argued that Kyiv does not need F-16s. Their own armed forces would never have fought like this, he said in an interview.

Despite criticism of the slow progress of the counteroffensive, Zaluzhny remains a popular, if somewhat paradoxical, figure in Ukraine. He sought to be a force for change in the military, eradicating the legacy of the Soviet era and transforming it into a more Western-like NATO-like force. Outside the battlefield, the smiling face of a 50-year-old man is painted on walls across the country, along with his hand in a peace sign. He says:

“They ask me the question: “How can you stand it? I have to live with it. Every day these are the ones who were killed. Every day it’s crippled, missing. These are tears.”

The imaginative Western handcuffs on his military operations have prompted Zaluzhny to think more about the future of Ukraine—beyond this counteroffensive and this war—and how to make the country so strong that no one dares to attack it again. Achieving this means producing weapons for defense, rather than relying on others to supply them. Zaluzny expects that he will be busy even after the war. His concept of victory is more than just Ukraine’s restoration of its full territorial integrity:

“The victory will be when we have an army that guarantees the safety of the children who now ride in strollers so that they grow up knowing that this will not happen again. And that’s a huge amount of work. It has to start now.”

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