Ukraine needs up to $400 billion to liberate entire territory, General Staff believes

The Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff expects that the liberation of the entire territory of Ukraine from Russian aggressors will require forces and means worth $350-400 billion

This is stated in the Ukrainska Pravda (UP) article "War against politics. What is really happening between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi".

"The problem is that the real plan to reach the 1991 borders does not suit either the political leadership or Western partners. According to UP, the General Staff's calculations show that to fulfill the president's task of liberating the entire territory of Ukraine, forces and means worth $350-400 billion are needed," the journalists write.

It is noted that the General Staff shared some of its planning ideas with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin during his last visit to Kyiv in November. 

"Austin was informed of the need for 17 million shells. He was surprised, to put it mildly, because it is impossible to collect so many shells all over the world," a senior Defense Forces official told UP off the record. 

Pentagon representatives were even more surprised by the sincerity of their Ukrainian colleagues regarding the internal situation in the country.

"Austin later told us that Zaluzhnyi complained about how he was being disturbed, that the Office was not such a good one, that one was not that good. It's clear that the president was informed of such conversations. And they do not promote trust," the source adds.

What is known about the possible conflict between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi

On November 1, The Economist published a column by Valeriy Zaluzhnyi for the first time since December 2022. In it, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that Russia's war against Ukraine could move to a new dangerous stage and named priority areas the development of which would help prevent this. He also described what is needed to break the deadlock in the war with Russia.

Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to Zaluzhnyi's article and said that Ukraine was not in a stalemate.

In addition, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva, commenting on an article by Valerii Zaluzhnyi in The Economist, said that the military should not make public what is happening at the front.

Later, the NYT article noted that Zelenskyy's accusations against Zaluzhnyi indicate a split in the Ukrainian leadership. At the same time, Russian resources launched a fake with the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, who allegedly called for a coup d'état.