Largest US aid package for Ukraine will include offensive systems - Serhiy Zgurets

Today I want to talk about the strength of our army and society, about the damaged equipment of the enemy at Khreschatyk and about the dynamics of actions on the fronts.

Six months of resistance

Happy Independence Day! On this festive day, we also look back on the six months of our resistance to large-scale Russian aggression. As a demonstrative illustration of this, there is a kind of "parade" of enemy equipment and weapons on Khreschatyk, where all Kyiv residents and guests can see the complete discrepancy between the ambitions and capabilities of the aggressor. They wanted to march in parade columns, but everything ended with this dead scrap metal, as the embodiment of the destroyed myth about the power of the second army in the world. Where every model of tank or armored personnel carrier, flamethrower system or howitzers was destroyed by Ukrainian soldiers. Of course, these are only intermediate results of this war.

Let me remind you that this is the largest regional war on the European continent since 1945. It is estimated that almost one and a half million people are involved in hostilities in one form or another. Today it is worth remembering that even six months ago, our partners gave us extremely little time to resist the Russian military onslaught, a maximum of three days. And the Rashists were focused on an instant victory, on the overthrow of our defenses, primarily due to the actions of the fifth column and traitors, on the forceful replacement of the political leadership, the destruction of our elite, in fact, the genocide of the Ukrainian people. However, both Russian and foreign special services miscalculated the readiness and ability of both our society and our armed forces to resist. The state of the Ukrainian army, despite all the shortcomings, which relate in particular to the preparation of territorial defense or other aspects, was much better than in 2014.

Russian losses 

I want to remind you about enemy losses, because these are significant indicators and we need to know them in order to understand the power of the Ukrainian army, which destroys the aggressor. The enemy had been preparing for war for about twelve years, but within six months he had lost a significant amount of equipment.

In particular, if we mention tanks, 1,900 tanks were destroyed, which is more than half of what the enemy had in combat before the start of the aggression. More than 4,000 armored combat vehicles of various levels were destroyed, and this is a quarter of the stocks that were in the state of the Russian army. Now the Russians are pulling back what is left for fighting, but when they say that the Russians have large reserves, it is not entirely true. A significant number of personnel were destroyed - 47,000 enemy soldiers and more than 150,000 wounded, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Now the enemy has significant problems with the selection of personnel, so he is trying to compensate for his lack of mercenaries, to whom he promises significant payments, but of course does not pay. The requirements for candidates are also lowered, because they accept convicted criminals and those who are held in pretrial detention centers. They are trying to carry out the so-called mobilization, that is, they are recruiting cannon fodder in the occupied territories. That is why the enemy does not have the opportunity to translate its tactical successes into operational and strategic advantages. Cannot achieve political goals by military measures. We forced the enemy to adjust their plans, which is extremely important.

Beginning of the third stage in format of combat operations

In particular, fearing an attack on Kherson, the enemy transferred significant troops to the South, which significantly slowed down their actions in the East. In turn, the Armed Forces, through new weapons, are already able to destroy enemy targets in the tactical and operational depth of the enemy's defense. Our forces are already operating in Crimea - this is a new sign of the dimension of hostilities.

Now we are talking about the beginning of the third stage in the format of hostilities, which should be connected with the accumulation of forces and the implementation of plans for the de-occupation of territories captured by the enemy. The third stage with the liberation of our territories is evaluated differently. Recently, there was a statement by an Estonian general who said that the Ukrainian army still lacks the strength for a powerful offensive due to the lack of equipment coming from Western countries.

New powerful package of military aid from US

We think that this situation will change, because today a completely new package of military aid was announced by the United States. On Ukraine's Independence Day, President Joseph Biden announced that almost $3 billion worth of military equipment is being transferred — this is the largest package of military aid that Ukraine has received throughout the entire period. Currently, military aid figures reach more than $10 billion, we are talking directly about the supply of military weapons.

What's in this package? This is primarily an air defense system, what exactly, we do not know, also artillery systems and ammunition, which is extremely important, because there is not a lot of artillery, as well as unmanned systems and radars. According to the statement of the Pentagon, all this is to ensure the continuation of defense in the long term. But I didn't really like the word "defense" because we are preparing for a counteroffensive and we need more offensive weapons. And we, of course, include long-range systems, tanks, BMPs and other armored vehicles among such offensive weapons.

Just recently, there was such an important publication in the American publication The Hills, where 20 respected military and diplomats said that it is necessary to provide more decisive assistance to Ukraine, and it was they who spoke about air defense systems, specifically ATACMS, as the main prerequisite for conducting offensive operations. And today there was an interesting publication in the Post edition, which claimed that the main package of American aid should include systems that ensure the conduct of offensive actions. They allow Ukraine to ensure the reconquest of its territories. We don't yet know the full contents of this powerful new package. Indeed, it is possible that there is a transformation in American approaches that will allow the Ukrainian army to have more opportunities to conduct counteroffensive actions, primarily to liberate the South of our country and other regions.