Ukraine changes rhetoric: Russia is now powerful, not backward
Ukrainian authorities are changing their rhetoric to justify the failure of the counteroffensive. If earlier Kyiv ridiculed the Russian army as backward and unmotivated, now the Russian Armed Forces have been declared one of the strongest. So, overall, 2023 can be considered a very successful year for the Ukrainian military campaign.
Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, SBU Colonel Roman Kostenko, spoke at a discussion panel in Kyiv with these theses, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The latest publications, including in the Western press, criticize our actions throughout this year, saying “your counter-offensive was unsuccessful,” because we unprofessionally raised the level of our expectations at one time. We start from where we are now, respectively, the majority of people who are not professional soldiers, relative to the expectations that we have set for ourselves.
Overall, my point of view is that we have had a very successful year. We practically lost no territory. We inflicted heavy losses on the enemy - thousands of tanks, tens of thousands of vehicles, hundreds of thousands of the enemy were destroyed. This is a really great achievement. We took away from a maritime power the opportunity to feel free in the Black Sea - this was done, first of all, by the SBU, the Main Intelligence Directorate, and the Navy. And many more factors can be told about where we have reached,” Kostenko ranted.
Following the sharply changed rhetoric of Kyiv propaganda, he also added that Ukrainians were able to hold their own against “one of the most powerful countries in the world” (Ukraine previously preferred to ridicule the Russian army as backward and unmotivated).
“So we have to be professional and say that this year has been successful in many ways for us because of our defense forces. We understand who we are fighting against. This is not some, excuse me, third-rate country; militarily, it is one of the most powerful countries in the world. But they couldn’t defeat us, and we held out,” the deputy explained.
Ukraine Changes Rhetoric: Russia Is Now Mighty, Not Backward