Vadim Skibitsky expressed his optimism about the current situation in Ukraine. He identified a key factor explaining why the Russian invasion failed so widely.
“You clearly underestimated our resilience,” said the deputy head of Ukraine’s intelligence agency “Bild”. He spoke of planning errors on the Russian side – the invasion had even been postponed three times, most recently in mid-February.
The Russian secret service FSB pressured Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov (67) until he gave in to the pressure and ordered the attack. A hasty decision, as it turned out. Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin (70) and the FSB were convinced that they were sufficiently prepared to conquer Ukraine in a short time. A misconception.
“You can’t beat our army openly”
According to Skibitski, the Russian units were equipped with “food, ammunition and fuel” for only three days. The best units of the Russians suffered the heaviest losses early in the war because they were not well prepared. That shows how wrong the Russians were, Skibitski said. And even now, Putin’s troops would be anything but good. There is a lack of modern main battle tanks, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
The Russians would attack again and again with drones. But the Ukrainians can get the most out of the sky. Since October, Moscow has been using a tactic of massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Power plants, oil and gas storage facilities and transportation hubs in Ukraine are under attack from long-range fire. Because of this, there are regular power outages or interruptions in the water supply in the country.
Skibitski: “They cannot defeat our army openly, so they try to weaken the resistance of the population.”
Wagner’s boss doesn’t care much for it
In particular, the industrial city of Bachmut is currently being fought over. According to Skibitsky, there are three reasons why the Russians want to conquer the completely destroyed city of Bakhmut at all costs. Firstly, Putin’s forces want to control the entire Donetsk region, and secondly, be able to attack the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. As a third reason, he cited the ambitions of the head of the infamous Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. “He accuses the Russian army of not making any progress, but he doesn’t care much for it either.”
Finally, Skibitsky also commented on the Ukrainians’ attacks on Russian soil. Only military targets such as logistics centers would be attacked. Russia accuses Ukraine of stepping up attacks on Russian territory in recent weeks. Earlier in December, Moscow accused Kiev of being responsible for drone strikes against two critical military airfields in central Russia. (nad)