"Ukrainian army is close to annihilation"--Kulik
2/5/2015
By Viktor Avin
Translated from Russian by J.Hawk
The Ukrainian army is in such a condition that the militia can freely advance until they reach the boundaries of Lugansk and Donetsk regions.
This opinion was expressed by Army General Anatoliy Kulikov, the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, in an interview with the “Spetsialnyy Korrespondent” talk show.
“Ukraine has no prospects for an effective operation, from the perspective of either the political, moral, motivational, or technical point of view. They have created military groupings on Iraqi and Afghan model, namely company tactical teams. But over there it’s desert, while here it’s densely populated territory. So from the military-technical perspective it’s not a very appropriate decision.
Then there’s the question of weapons. The best was given to the territorial defense battalions, while the army stayed with the old weapons.
There is no repair base, no means of communications, loss of control.
Under such conditions DPR and LPR armed forces ought to continue their active offensive operations and reach their administrative borders. Only that will force Ukraine to start negotiating,” assured Kulikov.
J.Hawk’s Comment: Kulikov is entirely correct—DPR and LPR can do as they please, all they have to do is want to go on the offensive. The bulk of the UAF is already on the front line, with all the unpleasantness that it entails. The fact that the Rada had just passed a law that gives line commanders the authority to execute their own soldiers for insubordination is likewise suggestive that the level of discipline within the military is plumbing new depths. So there is a Plan B: if the Munich talks fail to accomplish anything, if Poroshenko continues to side with the party of war, then more war is what he will get. At this point, even large-scale NATO weapons supplies would do almost nothing to influence the conflict, except to antagonize Russia, which is why pretty much all EU member states have officially swore off such supplies. The US could still do it unilaterally, of course, but even the official White House position is against them—they know perfectly well that what Kulik describes above is true. Moreover, as detailed in earlier posts, Ukraine's economic position is getting worse with every passing day.