Paul Ronzheimer, a reporter based in Ukraine, says right now Ukraine is in the midst of the biggest military crisis since the conflict began in February-March 2022, according to Bild.
Ronzheimer says he noticed a worsening mood among border guards during his trip to Ukraine last week. When they see Western journalists, they ask the same question: “It’s going bad, right?”
At the present time, “bad” is a very different expression to describe the dramas taking place between Kyiv and the centre of hostilities in the east, between the struggle for political power and the brave soldiers on the front line, between the slogans of resilience from the presidential palace and the empty ammunition boxes on the front line.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been heavily criticised for firing Hero General Valery Zaluzhny. This has hurt the public so much that for the first time, several dozen people even went to the historic Maidan square to demonstrate against the president. Zelensky tried to parry the criticism with selfie photos of himself with the sacked general, numerous hugs and the caption: “We stand together, no matter what.” Zaluzhny played along so as not to jeopardise the unity of the country, Ronzheimer remarks.
Zaluzhny was suspended because of his different vision of the war from Zelensky, as he speaks very openly about rapid mobilisation and at the same time advocates realism. But Zaluzhny realised Zelensky’s goal: to regain ALL the regions lost in the conflict. Zaluzhny is convinced that this is out of the question because there are not enough weapons, soldiers, technology, and most importantly, guaranteed support from the US.
Most importantly, the contrast between the capital, which actually regularly comes under fire, and the eastern part of the country is impossibly different, and people have different attitudes towards mobilisation issues. Travelling from Kyiv to Sloviansk in the east of the country is like travelling to another country. While in Kyiv people can enjoy themselves in restaurants, at least until closing time at midnight, in the east no one knows what might happen in the next few hours.
A year ago there was fighting here for Bakhmut, tens of thousands of people fell. Today the battle is for Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka, in which the Russians have the upper hand, according to Ronzheimer. Despite the fact that the Russian troops themselves are exhausted, they are retaking their positions metre by metre.
Ronzheimer concludes with an interview with a 27-year-old lieutenant, Oleksandr, who is currently fighting near Bakhmut and has been at the front for two years:
“If the Russians attack us ten times, we can defend ourselves twice. We need to mobilise NOW. People in other parts of Ukraine obviously don’t realise how dramatic the situation is.”
Everyone realises that one way or another, despite help from the civilian population, but the situation has to be resolved politically: “At some point it has to be resolved politically, because we can’t shoot every Russian,” says Oleksandr.
Ukraine is now approaching its second anniversary and preparing to enter its third year of conflict. A failed counter-offensive, strife among the government, ambivalent attitudes to mobilisation and doubts about future support from Western allies are mounting. Uncertainty and frustration are high during these cold winter days, Paul Ronzheimer concludes.
