Ukraine's former commander-in-chief believes Europe not ready for long war with Russia

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, believes that European countries are not ready for a prolonged war with Russia.

Source: Valerii Zaluzhnyi in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from Zaluzhnyi: "If we’re talking about short-term military operations, then I think European countries are prepared. But you’re asking whether they’re prepared to confront the attrition tactics. Let’s just do the maths. Look, Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure facilities were hit by 1,643 Shahed drones and around 200 missiles in October. This number will only keep growing. This month so far [i.e., by 20 November – ed.] the total number of Shaheds and missiles that targeted Ukraine’s civilian facilities has already reached around 3,000. And the month isn’t over yet.

So the number of aerial attacks is growing and air defence is limited and extremely expensive. I think this alone shows that neither the UK nor European countries are prepared. Despite the fact that they have enough F-16 jets, which have great air defence capabilities – meanwhile, an air defence system can be completely depleted in two or three months. It’s difficult to say whether they’re taking alternative measures and using alternative systems and equipment to figure out how to intercept air targets. Most likely, no."

Read more: Valerii Zaluzhnyi, ex-Commander-in-Chief: "World war, it's already started"

Details: Zaluzhnyi also noted that "In September and October, our frontline troops were hit by around 4,500 glide bombs [also known as KAB – ed.]". He stressed that a KAB has a warhead weight of 500 kilograms, while an Iskander warhead weighs 480 kilograms.

Quote from Zaluzhnyi: "Does any European country today, or even the UK, have at least 5,000 Patriot missiles to intercept these glide bombs? I doubt it. They’re very expensive, and so there can’t be a lot of them, because it’s difficult to manufacture them. In this respect then – no, they’re not ready."

Details: Zaluzhnyi added that, in addition to military actions, the Russians use information and psychological operations in their strategy of "attrition".

Quote from Zaluzhnyi: "Europe is quite comfortable at the moment and it doesn’t want to give up this comfort. That’s why I personally believe that even if they’re prepared for this war of attrition, their preparedness is very limited."

Details: At the same time, Zaluzhnyi noted that he does not see an enemy having enough resources to be able to conduct large-scale military operations for a while.

Quote from Zaluzhnyi: "I even doubt that China is prepared to carry out large-scale operations at the moment."

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