Zaluzhny: What Exactly Is the Government’s Goal?

Source: Author’s Facebook page

War is fought with weapons, but won or lost through politics. In his article, General Valeriy Zaluzhny warns that without a clear political goal, Ukraine’s battlefield successes risk being hollow victories, and the nation’s future security hangs in the balance.

General Zaluzhny emphasizes that for Ukraine to wage war effectively, its political leadership must define a clear political goal—and pursue it by mobilizing all state resources toward that objective. He elaborates on this thesis in detail, citing renowned military theorists and drawing on examples from recent history.

Zaluzhny points out that Russia is not lacking a political goal. Moscow’s objective is to destroy Ukraine as a state to secure a gateway to Europe. There are always two strategies for achieving any military aim: decisive defeat or attrition. In February 2022, Russia sought to destroy Ukraine through rapid defeat but found its plans thwarted by resilient Ukrainian defences.

While Zaluzhny does not explicitly write this, it appears that Russia’s failure was partly due to his own decisive actions. Before the invasion, he reportedly exceeded his authority by ordering certain brigades to take up defensive positions without awaiting instructions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Zelenskyy. According to General Nayev, it is thanks to Zaluzhny and his team that Ukraine still exists today.

Having failed to achieve its objective through a strategy of rapid defeat, Russia shifted to a strategy of attrition—and continues to apply it relentlessly. For Putin, no method is off limits. He may choose to pause the war, or he may choose not to

And what about us? We face a problem of political purpose. Because we still do not know the goal for which we are fighting.

To paraphrase the current situation: in practice, we are fighting simply to hold out until the day Russia’s economy collapses. But if that economy does collapse, Moscow will likely agree to some “acceptable” peace terms—while keeping its land corridor to Crimea. Will that end the war? No. It will only end another season of it. Occupied territories will remain occupied, Russia will prepare for the next strike, and Ukrainian voters will once again be targeted with a candidate promising to “just stop the shooting.”

Alternatively, suppose the Armed Forces of Ukraine reach the 1991 borders. Will that end the war? Again, no. Moscow will hunger for revenge, and the next round will be only a matter of time.

I wrote long ago that Ukraine’s political leadership must present society with a plan: How exactly does it intend to fight? How many people does it plan to mobilize? What will it do if relations with the West deteriorate? Do we have answers?

What we have instead is something else. We have a poorly organized mobilization system—as I see firsthand as a commander of a training platoon at the BZVP. We see a glaring lack of staff at recruitment centres. Likewise, we see endless opportunities to evade mobilization. And now, in the fourth year of full-scale war, Ukraine’s leadership has only begun to discuss the “fair distribution of reinforcements among combat brigades.” Apparently, there was no time to address that earlier.

I remain silent about corruption in the energy sector and the so-called “two-way trips to Moscow.”

The outcome is clear—and the authorities in Ukraine do have a political goal—but it is openly stated as: “To preserve themselves at any cost.” For this, they are willing to sacrifice even figures at the level of Yermak. For this, they deliberately fail to organize mobilization properly—to protect their electoral base, while blaming the personnel of the Central Committee of the Armed Forces and the military command for mistakes and excesses.

This may serve their interests, but society desires a different political goal: ending the war on terms acceptable to Ukraine, not through surrender.

Ukraine’s leadership must define a sensible roadmap to conclude the war. Zaluzhny wrote about this.

And I will add: one day, the Ukrainian government will formulate such a goal. And it may not be a “green” government when it does.

Also, follow “Pryamyi” on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Instagram.

• Materials published in the “OPINIONS” section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.
• The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author’s material.
• The owner of the webpage in the “OPINIONS” section is the author of the publication.