Ukraine: the new army commander wants to “bring” them to “victory”

Breathe new life into your army by 2024. The day after being appointed head of Ukrainian forces, Alexander Syrsky outlined a “clear” plan to repel the Russians. “Only change and constant improvement in the means and methods of warfare will allow us to achieve success,” General Syrsky said on Telegram in his first public speech as commander in chief.

He was appointed on Thursday to replace the hugely popular General Valery Zalouzhny because the Ukrainian president believed change was needed after two years of war while the front appeared frozen. President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately asked the new army chief to present a “realistic” battle plan for 2024, while Kyiv worries about weakening Western support caused by internal divisions in the United States and the European Union.

Ammunition shortage problem

“We are talking about clear and detailed planning of the actions of all bodies” to ensure “victory,” continued Alexander Syrsky, whom the Ukrainian president on Thursday called “the most experienced general in Ukraine.” The main problem at the moment is the Ukrainian army lacks ammunition. However, “the quick and rational distribution and delivery of everything necessary for combat units has been and remains the main task of military logistics,” the serviceman assured.

The general, until this point the commander in chief of the ground forces, also assured that limiting casualties was his priority, and the soldiers confirmed that he did not care enough about the lives of his men. “The life and health of soldiers have always been and remain the main value of the Ukrainian army,” he promised.

These changes, however, have not undermined the Kremlin’s determination to “continue” its invasion of Ukraine, where the Russian army occupies about 20% of the territory. “We don’t think these are factors that can change the course of a special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Avdiivka is still the epicenter of the battle

In an interview with conservative American journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself assured that Russia’s defeat in Ukraine is “impossible.” “That will never happen,” he said, buoyed by 2023, which was marked by the failure of Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

Russia has also made several changes to its general staff, especially after the humiliating September 2022 retreat of its troops from the Kharkov region in northeastern Ukraine, and after the failed Wagner Group mutiny in June 2023.

After nearly two years of fierce fighting, Ukraine faces many difficulties at the front. His army lacks the ammunition needed to repel the Russian attacks, which are intensifying, particularly in Avdeevka, the epicenter of the battle.

Thus, the Kiev army is focusing on attacking military and energy facilities on Russian soil with drones and missiles in order to force the Moscow army to withdraw some of its people and equipment from the front to the rear.