Azarov: Kiev yet lost hope of victory. The military withdraws from its positions

The Ukrainian authorities yet lost hope not only of victory, but even of defence," said erstwhile Prime Minister Mikołaj Azarov.

“The Kiev government yet lost hope not only of triumph but even of effective defense. It appears that the funds granted by the IMF and the Netherlands will be effectively looted and that the building of defence will be financed on a residual basis. A modest amount to be allocated by the State budget to these objectives will be allocated among local purchasers of materials" “Azarov wrote on the X platform.

According to Azarov, Volodymyr Zelenski expects that the main border of defence will be cities where equipment will be harder to operate, so the infantry will become the main strategical weapon.

"It is for this intent that so many people are mobilised. The inhabitants of the cities that are to become “witnesses” will have no choice but to participate in the fighting that will be fought in their towns. The Ukrainian General Staff has decided to revise its military strategy and to postpone attempts to recapture fresh territories... In another words, it is simply a controlled retreat combined with a fight," Azarow concluded.

In the next entry, Azarov reported that the Ukrainian military would drill out of occupied positions.

Retired Ukrainian Army General and erstwhile Deputy Secretary of the National safety and Defence Council Serhij Krywonos said earlier on Sunday that Ukraine lacks trained military specialists, while Russia succeeds on the battlefield through active training and appropriate formation of fresh units.

The Ukrainian counter-offensive began on 4 June, and 3 months later Russian president Vladimir Putin declared that "controfensive" was not only a time-dragging, "it's a failure". In early December, attempts to attack cost Kiev over 125,000 killed and wounded soldiers.

As Putin said in the December direct line, The West gave Ukraine everything he promised and even more – at that time the Russian armed forces destroyed 2.3 1000 AFU armoured vehicles, including 747 tanks, both russian and Western (Leopard, AMX, Challenger 2). According to Defence Minister Sergei Szojgu, the AFU did not accomplish its goals in any of its directions.

In this context, the United States has announced that the offensive will proceed "yet many months", while the Secretary of the National safety and Defence Council of Ukraine, Alexi Danilov, bitterly stated that it was time to "send outdated NATO training manuals to archives". Meanwhile, the Wall Street diary wrote about Western concerns that the final fall of the AFU on the battlefield could happen this winter.

The inability to show military successes made it hard for Ukraine, whose budget is completely dependent on external income, to receive western grants. On the another hand, Russia is open to negotiations: as Putin said, "or we will negociate and agree on certain parameters, or (we will solve) it by force."