Marta Hychko14:40, 05/14/24
Budanov admitted that there are no reserves for Kharkiv Oblast / photo by Getty Images
According to him, all reserves of GUR have been exhausted. Finding personnel for operations in this area was difficult.
Russia has deployed small assault units near the Sumy region against the background of the offensive in the Kharkiv region . Ukraine has no reserves to transfer to these directions.
This was stated by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, in a New York Times comment . According to him, Russia is trying to distract Ukrainian forces from other areas of the front line.
According to him, the Ukrainian army is trying to transfer troops from other areas of the front line to strengthen its defenses in the northeast, but it was difficult to find personnel.
“All our forces are either here or in Chasovoy Yar. I have used everything we have. Unfortunately, we have no one left in reserve,” said Budanov.
Budanov’s other statements
As UNIAN reported, the head of the GUR told the publication that Ukrainian forces will be able to strengthen their lines and stabilize the front within the next few days. However, he expects that Russia will launch a new attack north of Kharkiv, in the Sumy region.
According to Budanov, Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region will continue for another three or four days.
“After that, it is expected that Russian troops will make a powerful offensive in the direction of Sumy, a city approximately 140 km northwest of Kharkiv,” the publication writes, citing Budanov.
(C)UNIAN 2024
Sounds this was your last working day. You had 2 years to create at least 100.000 reserves.
Propaganda or factual, this is a dire statement. Deploy Allied Forces NOW!!!!!!! NFZ IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!
Who, Budanov? Not his responsibility at all. Zelenskyy screwed that up, by ignoring Zaluzhnij’s pleas for more manpower, by delaying new appointments for fired recruitment officers, and by letting the bill about lowering consciption age gather dusk for ten effing months. Lots of respect for the president’s great work in 2022, but since more than a year, it seems like he has lost his sense of reality. Who knows, maybe that’s Yermak’s fault, but something’s going wrong in government. ☹
Can’t it just be that no one screwed up? The resources to train and equip more people might just not be there.
We can play the blame game, but I think the number of troops Ukraine currently has already is impressive.
The biggest mistake might be failed counteroffensive in the South.
Ukraine should have switched to defensive mode way earlier. But the Western pressure for a counteroffensive was enormous.
I don’t want to play the blame game, but I don’t see any real action by Zelenskyy to solve the problem. The back and forth about the mobilization bill has really been ridiculous. After all that polutical theatre, conscription age has been lowered from 27 to 25, while in many other countries, it’s 18! A more consequential reform, passed last fall, would have strengthened the AFU by several hundred thousands recruits, many of them trained and ready now. The time wasted can’t be magically turned back. And there’s also no way to solve the problem in a short time now. Should a catastrophic defeat happen at Kharkiv, that’s Zelenskyy’s fault. ☹
While I was in Ukraine I was told that everyone when turning 18 is inducted for military training. I don’t have any idea whether this true. Perhaps someone on this site can comment
You can indeed start conscription at 18. But what will happen then is even more people fleeing to the West, which also damages the already hard hit economy. Then you have nothing: no soldier and no worker.
Also there is another problem: Ukraine’s demographic.
There aren’t that many young people: younger cohorts are really small.
So you don’t really want to sacrifice too many of an already very small generation.
So I don’t think it was just Zelensky screwing up, but also weighing other interests because you cannot send everyone to the front and expect the lights to stay on.
I am not saying Zelensky shouldn’t have lowered the age, but Ukraine has to carefully weigh different interest and see how much the economy and society can actually support even more conscription.
And apart from that, it is also questionable the shaky Ukrainian logistics can support much more boots on the ground: there is already a huge shortage of trucks with Ukrainian soldiers already begging online for cars and civilian trucks to even reach and supply the frontlines.
Might it be the wrong decision? Could be, but I don’t think it is just incompetence or unwillingness to take difficult decisions.
When the economy collapses, the war will just as well be lost.
Someone, all the problems you mentioned could have been taken care of in a reasonable mobilization strategy. Of course, the impact on the economy has to be a factor. Employees in the military-industrial sector should be excluded, but not delivery drivers and bartenders. The concern about army service could have been soothed with a dedicated information campaign. Consequences for guys fleeing the country should have been increased (not reduced, as the Verkhovna Rada did). Logistics could have been improved, there’s no shortage of trucks in the West. Also, of course not all recruits would have been called in at the same time. There would have been adequate training first. And casualties would actually have been lowered by strengthening the AFU’s exhausted units.
Anyway, what’s the effing alternative? The frontline will collapse if there are no reinforcements! Then all the sacrifices had been in vain. What’s your grand plan for preventing that? Let’s see it! 🤨
Why on earth is he saying this? Or is it just BS hoping the orcs buy it.
Budanov isn’t stupid, so I would say he’s trying to lure the orcs into a trap.
I truly adore your optimism and pray that you are right.
My thoughts exactly, Mike.
My thoughts exactly, foccusser.
That’s what I was thinking too. Hopefully the keyboard generals will listen to your wisdom, Ukrainians are not interested in blaming
russia would love to kill him, but he’s way too smart for them. He’s got them running around in circles with these attacks on oil refineries.
We don’t know, Captain. It’s really very condfusing, because the head of the national scurity council is saying everything’s under control and Kharkiv’s not at risk. I, for one, tend to believe Budanov, who has proven to be a successful commander, but also is known as an outspoken guy who would rightly raise alarm when sonething goes badly wrong. I’m afraid the president’s office is engaging in wishful thinking, because they now realise that the long delays around mobilization increases created a dangerous shortage. Whatever, mistakes happen, but to put the head in the sand is not the right reaction! ☹
My thoughts exactly, Sir Cap.
Zelensky had too high expectations, and Zaluzhny took him back downe to earth and got fired in return. It’s all fucked up, in particular the too slow, too few, too late western aid! 😤
Mike I don’t know where you’re going with this. Zaluzhny had two damn years to get it under control and now it’s Zelensky’s fault. It was Zaluzhny who didn’t rotate the brigades although he had two brigades that never saw any action and now it’s Zelensky’s fault… in what universe. Let me remind you Zaluzhny was chief cook and bottle washer. It’s his doing
Zaluzhny had to follow Zelensky’s orders, not the other way around.
The main fault of Zelensky was fucking about with mobilization. It’s pointless not mobilizing anyone who can fight, otherwise there will be no country left to fight for.
I don’t understand. You guys blame Zelensky for everything yet not accepting the fact Zeluzhny is responsible for military operations. Funny the day he was fired Zelensky puts forward a bill requiring mobilization. Who was delaying what?
Come on, show some respect to Zaluzny: he was in the military since 2014 and a very intelligent guy, he even has a doctorate and reads a lot. He is very innovative and adaptable and well loved among his soldiers. I think he is among the people that saved Ukraine’s ass.
There might have been reasons for not using some brigades, which can be that they are too inexperienced, they had to wait for equipment coming in or simply he wanted to have some reserves in case something funny happened around Sumy for example, something Budanov himself fears, or for a future counter offensive.
Zaluzny himself even commented on the level of guilt he felt for the lack of rotations and wondered if the people in the trenches would ever forgive him.
But he had to keep some in reserve for the counter offensive in the South, even though rotations were badly needed.
I don’t think we should pretend we know more then him, I would be surprised if he didn’t have had his reasons.
Maybe in some years, we will hear his story.
Cut me slack Anonymous. You want to defend him great but you as well as everyone on this site know absolutely nothing as to what was going on in the daily debriefs or the reason for the dismissal. You want some respect for Zaluzhny then give some respect to Zelensky. They are both fighting for Ukraine and doing the best they can.