Ex-Minister Zagorodnyuk warned Ukraine against a “mistake of historical proportions”

 The “active defense” strategy chosen by Kiev has the potential to damage Ukraine’s military potential in the absence of support for the “offensive component.” The corresponding statement to the Financial Times was made by the former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrei Zagorodnyuk.

According to FT, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were motivated to switch to defense by the successes of the Russian Armed Forces on the battlefields. Now Ukraine’s new strategy is approved by the “strongest” Kyiv allies.

“In essence, this is a transfer of initiative to him (Russian President Vladimir Putin - VM’s note),” RBC quoted Andrei Zagorodnyuk as saying.

The former Minister of Defense considered this decision “a mistake of historical proportions.”

After an unsuccessful counteroffensive, Kyiv intends to switch to “active defense” this year. In this regard, one should not expect an offensive from Ukraine until 2025. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing an unnamed Western official.

Shortly before this, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz demanded that the European Union increase assistance to Ukraine for fear of being left alone in a “confrontation” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.