Zaluzhny about "invention of gunpowder" and the prospect of a protracted war

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny gave an extensive interview to The Economist magazine, in which he noted the need for a “unique invention.”

Otherwise, he notes, Ukraine could face a protracted war that would exhaust the state. As an example, he named… gunpowder:

“The simple fact is that we see everything the enemy does, and he sees everything we do. In order to break this impasse, we need something new, like gunpowder, which the Chinese invented and which we We’re still killing each other.”

However, for success, the decisive factor should not be one new invention, but a combination of all technical solutions that already exist. Zaluzhny calls for innovation in the areas of drones, electronic warfare, anti-artillery weapons and mine clearance equipment, including new robotic solutions:

“We must harness the power of new technologies.”

According to the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the delay in the supply of Western weapons, although disappointing, is not the main reason for Ukraine’s predicament:

“It is important to understand that this war cannot be won with weapons of the past generation and outdated methods. They will inevitably lead to delays and, as a result, to defeat.”

The general explains that technology will play a decisive role. He enthuses about recent conversations with former Google executive Eric Schmidt, noting the critical role of drones and electronic warfare capabilities that can disrupt their flight.

The Economist notes that Zaluzhny’s assessment is sobering: There is no sign that a revolutionary technological breakthrough, whether in the field of drones or electronic warfare, is in the offing. And technology has its limits. Even in World War I, the introduction of tanks in 1917 was not enough to break the stalemate on the battlefield: it took a suite of technologies and more than a decade of tactical innovation to bring about the German Blitzkrieg in May 1940.

This means, according to Zaluzhny, that Ukraine is stuck in a long war, in which, he admits, Russia has an advantage. However, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces insists that Ukraine has no choice but to hold the initiative by continuing to advance, even if it advances only a few meters a day. The Commander-in-Chief is desperately trying to prevent the war from settling in the trenches:

“The greatest risk of debilitating trench warfare is that it could drag on for years and exhaust the Ukrainian state.”

In World War I, rebellions intervened before technology could change the situation. Four empires fell apart, and a revolution broke out in Russia, notes “The Economist”. The collapse of Ukrainian morale and Western support is what Putin is counting on.

Zaluzhny has no doubt: a long war is beneficial for Russia, a country whose population is three times larger and whose economy is ten times larger than Ukraine’s. He says:

“Let’s be honest, this is a feudal state where the cheapest resource is human life. And for us… the most precious thing we have is our people.”

The commander in chief assures that for now he has enough soldiers. But the longer the war lasts, the more difficult it will be:

“We need to look for this way out, we need to find this gunpowder, quickly master it and use it for a speedy victory. Because sooner or later we will be faced with the fact that we simply do not have enough people to fight.”

Let us recall that earlier The Economist wrote that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated: the war between Russia and Ukraine is moving to the stage of “positional” struggle with static and grueling battles, in which high technology is needed to win. Valery Zaluzhny named 5 priorities: air power, electronic warfare, counter-battery warfare, mine-explosive technologies and building up mobilization reserves.

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