26.01.2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no chance of implementing global plans to seize Ukraine and take control of the countries of the former Soviet Union, as Russia has enough technological, military and human resources today.

According to Ukrinform, this was stated by Army General, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine in 2005-2010 Mykola Malomuzh on Ukrainian Radio.

“After Putin’s huge failure to capture Ukraine in three weeks, he realized that there would be no easy victory. And that’s why he offered to conclude an agreement in March, and even to some extent they were already preparing drafts. Because he realized that there were no prospects. Now he is still trying to generate efforts to at least somehow take control of part of Ukraine,” Malomuzh emphasized.

In his opinion, Putin has no chance to realize his global plans to seize Ukraine and take control of the countries of the former Soviet Union.

“Especially in a situation where the people of Ukraine have united with the West, which has a superior industry, economy, and especially a high-tech military complex. Ukraine is at the forefront of winning concrete victories. The Ramstein meeting that took place determined that all participating countries, including the United States and Europe in particular, have developed long-term programs to support Ukraine. This includes missile systems, armored vehicles, electronic systems that devalue the activities of missiles and drones, respectively, by creating electronic shields, and aviation. This is what makes it possible for Putin not to realize his big plans. I believe that today he does not have the technological, military and human resources to implement global plans to seize Ukraine, take control of the countries of the former Soviet Union, in particular the Baltic states, and even more so to expand his zone of influence in Europe… There is definitely no chance. The beginning of the war with NATO will accelerate its end,” the expert emphasized.

Regarding the agreement between Ukraine and the UK, he noted that it is seen as a global model of support “because it is an active support with weapons, equipment, ammunition.”

“This is GBP 2.5 billion. These are specific types of the latest weapons, in particular Storm Shadow, which we use to hit the occupied territory, ships, submarines, launchers, and ammunition depots. The UK has specifically shown that it will help, and this is clearly defined in the agreement. In the same way, the mechanisms for the long-term supply of weapons, equipment, and intelligence to Ukraine are defined. By the way, the agreements we sign with the British intelligence and counterintelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, are now working in full swing. Because their intelligence is powerful and technical, and they receive information from all of Russia’s secret systems. Therefore, the future prospect of such an agreement provides us with priorities on the battlefield, operationally and politically and diplomatically,” Malomuzh said.

He added that similar mechanisms are being developed with other countries. “20 countries are ready to sign. And, of course, today there are 28 countries with which we are actively cooperating at all levels. This format will also provide more systematic and stable support. This means daily prioritization and funding for this, and, of course, guarantees in case of new aggression. Therefore, Putin will think very, very hard about whether to launch a new aggression,” the expert said.

He is convinced that if we receive guarantees from our member states today, Putin will never attack either Ukraine or NATO countries again.Read also: Putin does not want peace with Ukraine – Zelensky

“He will have no chance… It will be extremely difficult to start something new. And the zombification of the Russian people will not work. Even now, about 70% of Russians no longer want to fight. I am not saying that they support Ukraine. If we win, I really foresee that in 2024, even to the end, it will be a huge disappointment of Russian society, which will work against Putin,” Malomuzh emphasized.

As Ukrinform previously reported, the security agreement with the UK provides for a 100-year partnership, annual additional assistance for 10 years, and automatic provision of weapons to Ukraine in the event of any aggression.

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Ukraine managed to create reserve of power generation capacity – expert

26.01.2024 13:20

Ukraine has managed to create a reserve of generation capacity and restore the extensive network that can redirect energy flows if a power line breaks down.

Therefore, there is no reason to doubt that Ukraine will be able to go through and complete the heating season of 2023-2024 normally. This opinion was expressed on Ukrainian Radio by Hennadii Riabtsev, Director of Special Projects at the Psyche Scientific and Technical Center, Ukrinform reports.

The expert assesses the course of the heating season as normal and believes that there is no reason to doubt that Ukraine will lack something to go through and complete this season normally. He emphasizes that the risks are associated with deteriorating weather conditions and rocket attacks.

“This winter is easier than the previous one, because the energy sector is well prepared for it. International partners helped Ukraine with the supply of large equipment, where 100 units of such equipment were either modernized or replaced. This made it possible to create a reserve of distribution capacity, to restore the extensive network that can redirect energy flows if a particular power line fails,” Riabtsev said.Read also: Sweden sends 93 cargoes of aid to Ukrainian energy sector

According to the expert, “a small but still reserve of generation capacity has been ensured,” and now there are several units that are in reserve in case of “something”.

“And this reserve capacity will be provided by increasing the capacity of interconnectors. We now have 1.7 GW of possible capacity that can be supplied by our European partners in case of system failures or shortages of electricity. We have never used this capacity in full. Only about 70% – when we had major disruptions due to bad weather and more than 1,000 settlements were cut off from electricity. But these capacities allow us to be quite optimistic about the second half of the heating season,” the expert said.

Riabtsev also noted that Ukrainians have significantly reduced their electricity consumption compared to the pre-war period. And despite the fact that there is a small margin in terms of both distribution and capacity, he believes that “all consumers should think about the rational use of energy resources.” “Such an approach will allow us to get through the heating season with confidence,” he added.

At the same time, Riabtsev emphasizes that problems remain. They are related to the fact that the equipment is mostly pre-war – quite old and fails if there are any problems due to low temperatures and high electricity consumption. The second problem is a significant decrease in the number of qualified power engineers. And the third problem is debt, which requires attention from the government: “If power engineers are unable to pay for equipment and repairs, pay salaries to their employees, then they may not be able to restore the system as well.”Read also: Fire on gas pipeline was stopped in Kharkiv

Riabtsev reminded that Ukraine is currently self-sufficient in gas from its own production only because consumption of this resource (primarily by industrial consumers and households) has significantly decreased, and also stated that Naftogaz has increased production. However, in general, Ukraine has reduced production. According to him, the preliminary results of gas production in Ukraine are about 17.6 billion cubic meters, while before the war it was more than 20, and this is the total production of all production companies.

Earlier, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Ukraine has steadily passed the first half of the heating season and has enough resources for its successful completion.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, as of January 26, despite the repair of two power units of thermal power plants, no deficit in the power system is expected.