Ukraine's Defence Minister on Russians' Kyiv dream: How can you capture a city of 3 million people?
Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov believes that the capture of Kyiv by the Russian occupiers is an unrealistic scenario.
Source: Reznikov in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda
Details: Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnii told The Economist that he has no doubt that there will be a second attempt to attack Kyiv. According to Reznikov, a commander-in-chief always calculates the worst-case scenarios, and an invader always dreams of conquering the capital of the country he is attacking. However, the Defence Minister is certain that the scenario of capturing Kyiv is unrealistic.
Quote: "Valery Zaluzhnii always deliberately says that no matter what happens, even if we give them a quick and well-aimed punch in the face, they will want revenge in 5 or 10 years.
He has to predict the worst-case scenario and be prepared for it so that it does not happen. Of course the Russians do have an attempt to go to Kyiv in their mentality. It is their dream that Ukraine will surrender. And for this, the capital must fall.
Kyiv is a symbol, there is no need to explain that – for the Christian world, the Orthodox world, and Ukraine in general.
Why did Napoleon want to burn Moscow? Because it's logical. The capture of Berlin brought the Second World War to a close. That is, all wars are attempts to control the capital.
But this does not mean that their dream will be realised. It wasn't in February-March last year.
Let's analyse a simple thing. The town of Bakhmut has a population of 40,000, and they have not been able to take it for five months. They’re still having to fight street battles to take it.
And the city of Kyiv is an agglomeration that had an unofficial population of up to 4 million before the invasion. Some people evacuated; some went abroad with their children, wives and so on. So the majority of the population here is ready to resist...
So imagine, how can you capture a city with a population of 3 million? With what kind of resources? That's why it's a five-star puzzle."
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