Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the war with Russia is in a new stage, with winter expected to complicate fighting after a summer counteroffensive that failed to produce desired results due to enduring shortages of weapons and ground forces.
Despite setbacks, however, he said Ukraine won’t give up.
“We have a new phase of war, and that is a fact,” Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview Thursday with The Associated Press in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine after a morale-boosting tour of the region. “Winter as a whole is a new phase of war.”
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Zelenskyy also said he fears the Israel-Hamas war threatens to overshadow the conflict in Ukraine, as competing political agendas and limited resources put the flow of Western military aid to Kyiv at risk.
I wholeheartedly agree. That, of course, will be the final crucible Zelensky and Ukraine have to survive once the Military phase of the war concludes. Still, I maintain that Zelensky and the Ukrainian government/political establishment will likely pass that test, because to not pass that test would effectively turn their country into an authoritarian state, and we already know how the Ukrainian populace feels about that. Also keep in mind that a meaningful proportion of their population are now experienced combat veterans who care VERY much about their country, and I would be very surprised if they all simply acquiesced to a new era of dictatorship and/or authoritarianism in Ukraine without organizing some form of extremely effective resistance.
I hope you’re right. I really do.