Full transcript of press conference of Commander-in-Chief of AFU Zaluzhnyi

At the first press conference, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi summed up the results of the year of war, gave a forecast for the future and told what he thought of the government’s draft law on new rules of mobilization.

- How critical is the shortage of soldiers, in general, and of assault groups, and do you think the government is responsible for calling people to fight at this moment?

- May I respond? I am very glad to see everyone. Thank you for the invitation. By the way, this is my first press conference. I will have to remember it. Thank you for your question. Regarding the shortage of military personnel, the number of assault groups, and so on. Look. I have repeatedly told your colleagues and our journalists that what is happening now is not some kind of show that people watch from the outside and wonder what the score is, what's going on there, what's going to happen tomorrow, what's going to happen the day after tomorrow. I can't talk about any numbers really at all. I don't want to help our enemies do their enemy's work. So I want to tell you that in general, I believe there will be more questions on this issue, and when we formulate the requirement, by the way, as I said in the marathon, and the requirement for us is a resource, it is weapons, it is ammunition, it is also people, we take into account, of course, the people we have lost, the people we may lose next year, and the people we need to form certain units and subunits. All of this adds up to a total figure. And not only, by the way, in people, but also in ammunition and equipment that we need to conduct combat operations. As for the government, I want to say that Ukrainian legislation quite clearly delineates all the functions of those involved in the defense of Ukraine. The armed forces are fighting directly. In order to fight, they have a Ministry of Defense, which responds to our requests and deals with our needs, including human needs. Including human needs, in this case. That's all I wanted to say if I have satisfied you. 

- Ruslana Bochai(?), Radio Liberty. Valerii Fedorovych, I have a question about demobilization. This draft law says 36 months, doesn't it? 3 years. But you've already said that maybe it's too long, because when it comes to people who are on the front line, 3 years is really a long time. Don't you think it should be less? Because the opposition factions have already preparing an amendment for about 18 months. What is your position on this? Thank you.

- My position is very, very simple. Once again, I will not tire of reminding you that there is a war going on. It is a war that develops according to its own laws, and everything that happens in a war depends, most importantly, on the actions of our enemy. That is why I clearly understand and know, and I want to tell you that our soldiers are doing their job at the front in extremely difficult and very difficult conditions, thanks to which we can talk to you here in peace. It is very, very difficult for them. This is a rather complicated, rather difficult matter. And of course, I would like people who are going to the army, and especially those who are already serving in the army, to clearly understand how long they will have to fight. Together with the Ministry of Defense, we agreed on the figure of 36 months, hoping for two things. The first is that there will be no escalation at the front. This is the first thing. And secondly, and most importantly, that these people would be replaced in 36 months. And the government, which has undertaken to implement this law, I think, clearly understands the capabilities of our country. I hope that in 36 months we will be able to cope with the task of replacing those people who are really doing their job in extremely difficult conditions. And of course, I agree that after they are demobilized, they need some time to rest. And it was we who agreed with the Ministry of Defense's proposal that there should be the same figure that is there. We agreed to this. Of course, I am in favor of all this happening. But again, I would like to point out that this is a norm that is not quite, let's say, realistic. It is realistic in the conditions we are in, but we can only hope that the intensity of hostilities will not increase. And we will be able to replace these people whom we plan to replace in 36 months.

- You're welcome, Suspilne.

- Greetings, Suspilne News. I have a question in addition to those 36 months, in fact, in a year we have to find replacements for the military who have been fighting since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. How will we cover these needs? Do we have such an opportunity and why - 500 thousand - why was this figure formed? Thank you.

- Thank you for your question. Let me start by saying that I, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, would never operate with such figures. We are well aware of the declared mobilization volumes in the Russian Federation, we declare ours, and believe me, I am absolutely sure that the Russian Federation will change them. Therefore, I would not bring such figures to the public discussion. The only thing I want to confirm is that this figure is being formed exactly as I told your colleague, and we will take into account, among other things, the tasks that will be performed next year. This does not mean that this figure should be set tomorrow. Of course, all this is divided into certain periods. And as for the question, quite rightly, whether we can find... Well, look, again, I repeat, we are the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We cannot in any way interfere in the lives of civilians, despite the fact that we work under martial law and have sufficient rights. But, again, will we be able to find... Well, I think the government will cope with this task. But that's what they're appointed for.

- I have more clarification. How this can affect demobilization, and how it can affect the situation at the front.

- Well, look, 36 months is as long as 2025. We will have enough time to prepare the human resources that will be needed to replace them and to ensure that this situation with demobilization does not affect the situation we are in. We understand this from the ground. But the government also has to understand that if we are talking about 36 months for demobilization, then most likely we will need to start this process of drafting people and preparing them as early as next year so that in 2025 we can already implement demobilization.

-Please, Hromadske.

- Mr. Zaluzhnyi, the law states that the rotation must take place after six months of hostilities. Please tell us, is it possible to do this today? And what is meant by rehabilitation? Do people go on vacation for 2 months, or do they continue to train, but not at the front line, but somewhere safer, thank you.

- Well, look, I've already mentioned this at the marathon, working in the Ministry of Defense working group that developed these proposals, one of our tasks was to make sure that we did not disrupt the military management process that exists on the ground with some legislative norms. That is why this 6-month form is very interesting, and of course, we would like to see it. But again, our people are not in a competition or a tournament, and this is not a show that the whole world is watching. I will repeat that the situation at the front depends on the actions of the enemy. And we cannot predict that it will be 6 months, 5 months, 3 months. The situation can be completely different. Believe me. And again, if people who propose a 6-month rotation, they should understand that the combat system of troops should be increased at least twice. And what will be the amount that will be needed to replace these people in combat positions in six months. And if the situation changes, if the enemy attacks from non-attacked areas, what should we do in such a situation? That is why people need to rest. I demand from local commanders that they do everything possible and impossible to rotate the troops within the unit. But to legislate that we will move in this way - well, believe my 30 years of experience in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and almost 10 years of service, that this is still, let's say, a deception, which is probably unrealistic. In today's realities. Thank you. 

- Please, "We are Ukraine".

- Thank you for the opportunity. I have one long and one short question. You asked us not to use numbers, but they are already in the public domain, voiced by the President. How long do you think it will take to train thousands of people, if not that many, and whether we will have this opportunity, if not on our territory-we understand that the enemy is reaching everywhere -then with our partners, because, as I understand it, in these less than two years of full-scale invasion, such a huge amount has not been trained yet? This is the first question. And the bill also proposes that from the age of 18 to 25, men will be offered optional service at universities. How important is this if we are talking about 2025 now? Thank you.

I absolutely agree with you that people who have to go to perform tasks must be prepared. And in this direction, I agree with any initiatives that may be taken to even increase responsibility for the fact that there are times when a person goes to the front unprepared. This is absolutely unacceptable. We have a great opportunity to use both our capabilities and those provided by our partners. I would like to say separately that our partners pay very, very much attention to this. And in fact, today our capabilities in this regard are unlimited. We can train, let's just say, up to 10 full brigades there today, and conduct training at these training grounds. And we certainly use these methods. As for young people between the ages of 18 and 25, I'll repeat that I want people who can perform combat missions to join the army. It is very difficult. It is so hard that even in this office it is hard to imagine how hard it is. I want them to be capable of doing it. And if they are still prepared, I will be only in favor of it. This is a very, very good initiative, in my opinion. 

-Channel 5, please.

- Hello, Vitalii Zalevskyi, Channel 5. Recently, Rustem Umierov said that the Defense Ministry has information about the number of men of military age who have gone abroad. Please tell us whether it is necessary to bring them back, and are there any ways to do so?

- Thank you for your question. It is an interesting one. But again, I will repeat once again that the Armed Forces of Ukraine must fight. In no way should they interfere with the peaceful life of our citizens, including those who have left our country. There are authorized central executive bodies that can make decisions in this regard. Today, I cannot assess them and do not want to do so. But I will be very happy if after a while I see them in the army and I will be very happy to organize training with them, even abroad, to bring them back to receive training there and (unintelligible - ed.) cooperate.

-Please, BBC

- Good afternoon. I am interested in the issue of electronic draft notices. Whose proposal was it in general - was it the proposal of the General Staff or other government officials? And how can this happen in general? Will the draft notice be sent in an e-mail, in an electronic cabinet? How is this even possible? Thank you.

- Oksana, thank you very much for your question. Again, I would like to repeat that this proposal was not made by the General Staff or the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because we cannot even assess the possibility of issuing such draft notices in this way. Let's just say that we are happy with any method that will meet our needs for people. If we get them as a result of electronic draft notices, it will be very good. If it is done in some other way - but again, both the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the General Staff directly, let's say, in these matters, we are in the role of more of a consumer.

-Please, 1+1.

- Mr. Commander-in-Chief, Karyna Vakareva, TSN, 1+1. The day before, Western publications published information about the Kremlin's next plans for a large-scale offensive against Ukraine. Do you expect this offensive and, perhaps, against the background of the news about mobilization, are you planning our counteroffensive?" - And the second question - Good afternoon, Yuliia Kyryienko, TSN, 1+1.

- Hello, Yuliia. I'm glad to see you.

- It's mutual. Please tell me, there was information that conscripts would be demobilized. They write that this process has not yet begun. If it hasn't started yet, when will it start and what is the percentage of people who will be mobilized to the Armed Forces or to contract service?

- Thank you. Girls, let's start with the fact that, in my personal opinion, there are a lot of things written in the Western media. Sometimes they even show me what is written there, and with all due respect to the expert community in the West, I don't even want to read some of the things. They have absolutely no idea what is happening here and, let's just say, there is a very, very small percentage of experts there with whom you can really agree. But the question about the plans of the Russian Federation is absolutely correct. Of course, I will repeat once again that war is, first of all, the actions of the enemy and our reaction to his actions. Of course, we take into account what may happen next year. Again, I don't want to say what we see happening right now because I don't want to be a little bit smart and then think about how to rectify the consequences. But we are keeping a close eye on it.  Today we have enough intelligence agencies that are doing the relevant work. Today we even have the opportunity to compare certain data, to compare the data provided by our partners and our intelligence agencies. And we are doing everything we can to respond to this accordingly. And speaking here about this law, this is just part of the reaction to possible actions by Moscow. Yuliia, regarding the question about conscripts. It was a painful issue. Until recently, let's just say that as of the summer, we were not ready to discharge conscripts, but let's just say that somewhere around the end of November, apparently, it was our absolute proposal. We applied to the Ministry of Defense to discharge conscripts from military service. As of today, they are no longer needed. Our clear position is to dismiss them so that they can go on vacation. And then we acted accordingly under the existing legislation, and we absolutely support the positions proposed in this draft law regarding their future fate. As for the percentages, again, I would not like to name the figures which I will have to answer later, but... we have such information.

-Please, Ukrinform.

- Ukrinform, Maryna Kozhukhar. There were personnel changes in the Military Recruitment Centres (MRCs). Do all military commissars now hold the necessary positions and, accordingly, will the MRC have enough capacity to carry out the mobilization that is planned? And during the development of the draft law, were there any proposals from military commissars? Were there any points they insisted on? Thank you.

- Thank you for your question. As for the territorial recruitment centers, as of today, I am not satisfied with their work. I am not satisfied yet. And, accordingly, if I were satisfied with it, we would not be discussing the issue of this draft law right now. People who work in territorial recruitment centers, I want you to understand that this is a special separate specialty. In my 30 years of service, the only place I would not want to serve is in a territorial recruitment center. It is necessary to have a certain set of knowledge, a set of skills, and most importantly, a set of abilities that allows the manager to fulfill his or her duties. Both outside, outside the MRC, and inside this structure. But as of today, I want to say that we have not lost the ability to recruit personnel in the territorial recruitment centers. I don't feel that we will have any problems with the volume of personnel we need to supply. We have made sure that those key positions that are directly involved in organizing this process at the MRCs remain and continue their work accordingly. So I think we will cope with this task. As for the executives themselves, the work continues. As of today, we are already replacing some of the managers who came there. Some have left the place on their own, but again, this organization, let's say, as it is written in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, the local military administration body, in my personal opinion, is functioning today and is able to continue to fulfill its tasks. 

- Militarnyi, please.

- Good afternoon, Kateryna Suprun, Militarnyi. The draft law has such a thing as basic military training, and a lot of this issue is the responsibility of local governments, local administrations. How can this be controlled? As this basic military training is extremely important because we are talking about trained people who will be mobilized.

- This is a great question. It is absolutely relevant, and I have already answered some of the girls that we are interested in this basic general military training taking place. In our personal opinion, we have thought about this process, how to do it. Under martial law, the heads of civil-military administrations, which is why they are called civil-military administrations, are absolutely capable of carrying out these activities and controlling them accordingly. If they will be controlled. According to the law, these heads of civil-military administrations have two levels of authority over them, which control and organize their work: the General Staff itself and the Cabinet of Ministers, which, I think, is capable of handling this task. Of course, it will be a little bit new. But the number of volunteers who are already helping to train people and the number of veterans who are already in civilian life, in my personal opinion, will be able to organize this process properly. There will be no problems here. And we were very, very happy to see this being implemented. With our direct participation. Thank you.

-Rada TV channel.

- Thank you. Sonia Hryhorchuk, Rada TV channel. In the draft law, we also have such a thing as a unified register of debtors and temporary restrictions on them. Please tell us whether you really think they will be effective and whether any of them were proposed by the General Staff. Thank you.

- Again, I repeat that I have already said that we are an army. We are the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We have only to fight. We have to receive resources, perform tasks, and in no way can we even think about interfering in people's civilian lives. There are relevant central executive authorities that can do this. We did not make such proposals because we cannot do it as such, first of all. And secondly, we have enough of our own problems to think of any more restrictions for civilians. 

-Please, Kyiv Independent.

- Francis Ferrell, Kyiv Independent. Thank you very much for the opportunity to ask questions. I would like to ask a more general and personal question. In your opinion, how will the military campaign in Ukraine be different in 2024 than in 2023, what are the main lessons you learned from last year that you should work on in the next year? Thank you.

- Thank you for the question. It's quite a great question, quite relevant. A few months ago, I tried to explain to our partners what is happening in the 21st century, how the war is going on, and I received a lot of criticism about it. But over time, people realized that I was absolutely right. In the twenty-first century, the development of science and, as a result, the development of weapons and military equipment categorically and necessarily leads to changes in the tactics of use. The year 2024 will not just be different. It has to be different, 2024 from 2023, because otherwise, we will face what I wrote about in the article. Accordingly, we have found these problems. And we have found, perhaps, 90% of the solutions to these issues that must be resolved in order to act more efficiently next year and, most importantly, to save people. We are working on this. Our partners, who are also interested in this issue, have absolutely agreed with us. I can assure you that the next year will be different, it will be a war year, from 2023, and we are at least doing everything for that. Unfortunately, I must state that the enemy is not far behind us. You can see what is happening. Especially in recent days. We have a fairly powerful confrontation at the level of technology use, first of all. But we are not letting up in this regard. By the way, I would like to thank the Minister of Defense very much for the team really supports all our technological breakthroughs that we have proposed. I think we will succeed. I am confident in that. 

- Please, Liga.

- Valerii Fedorovych, greetings. Marko Syrovyi, Liga.net. You don't want to talk about the figure of 500 thousand, but it has already been mentioned at the President's press conference. And when we talk about such a number of soldiers, we must understand that they must have weapons. Do you have confidence that our partners and our military-industrial complex are able to provide such a number of people with the necessary weapons and equipment?

- As for our partners, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them, first of all. Because my requests to them were absolutely diverse, and we have come a long way in our cooperation at various levels. I want to say that we have such serious cooperation, especially over the past year, but every figure that I say or that I share with my partners is necessarily double-checked, discussed, and only then becomes publicly available. Therefore, when I talk about such a figure, I am confident that our Western partners will remain by our side. As for the needs that do not depend on Western partners, all these needs have been formed accordingly. The Ministry of Defense has them. They are being discussed quite actively now, and some of them have already begun to be implemented, we have formed all these figures and all the needs to the end, and I think there will be no problems with this. We had quite ambitious goals in 2023, and I want to say that I was not disappointed with the level of provision that we had in 2023. Of course, it was not complete. But at least it allowed us to conduct combat operations with enough confidence. 

- Please, Ukrainska Pravda

- Good afternoon, Roman Romaniuk, Ukrainska Pravda. Please tell us. Is this figure, which sounds like a need, an annual need, meaning that this number of people will not be mobilized immediately, but will be mobilized over the course of a year? And will we continue this practice next year, when new units are formed to perform large tasks, or will these people who will be mobilized be distributed among the existing combat units? Thank you.

- First of all, in my speech, I did not mention either 500 or 400. I am talking about the general need. When one of the girls asked me, I said that this need is, of course, divided into certain periods. Of course, it is. Some will be mobilized in January. And some will be mobilized in December. I will say right away that we are not talking about the fact that we require all this now in order to clothe, shoe, and provide weapons - no, this is not the case. I will say that 2023 was exactly the same, following the same scheme. Nothing special. It will be done in the same way in 2024.

- Last question, 1+1

- Valerii Fedorovych, it's me again. Actually, the question of the front has already been raised. Of course, without the front, there would be no need for mobilization. But I have a question: when the full-scale war began, there was an opinion that if the Ukrainian army killed 100,000 Russian soldiers, they would stop. Then, maybe, if 500, they would stop. We have already seen that human lives do not matter to Russians at all. When do you think they will stop, and do we really have something that can stop them completely at this point? This is the first question. The second. We had Bakhmut, and now something similar is happening in Avdiivka. We understand how to prevent Bakhmut 2 from happening again. And about the fortification line. I think you know that the second line is not very fortified. What is being done on the front line to improve it? Thank you.

- Thank you for your question. First of all, with regard to the Russian Federation. I would like to say that I have already said about this in my interview before, that this was one of my main mistakes, that I believed that the amount of losses we inflicted on the enemy even a year ago could stop it. It would have stopped, perhaps, any country with such a number of losses. But not the Russian Federation. You work very hard at the front, thank you very much. You see perfectly well, the guys show you what is happening on the contact line - lot of bodies, of the enemy, I mean, that no one is trying to take away. There are more and more of them every day. Unfortunately, this is the attitude of the Russian Federation towards its own people. Therefore, it is difficult to predict how many more casualties will be necessary to stop all this. I believe that it is necessary to do this constantly, right up until the war is over until the enemy gives up fighting against our country. As for the fighting around Bakhmut, around Avdiivka. Again, there is no need to focus too much on this, let's say, and... to make, again, what I don't like the most, some kind of show. Or some kind of show of even grieving around a certain settlement, in order to eventually make some things out of it that are not at all inherent there. Let's just say that the conduct of hostilities is subject to its own laws, which are in force regardless of whether commanders or politicians like it or whether journalists like it - they are in force. When the enemy launches a fire attack using a large number of shells, these shells bring their results. They destroy buildings, they kill soldiers. Accordingly, what is happening is happening. Today, the enemy can concentrate its forces, including artillery and aircraft, in one direction or another. They can make it so that in 2 or 3 months what happened to Bakhmut will happen. You saw it yourself. There is no city there anymore. That's why we value every piece of our land. Every piece of our land. And whether it's Bakhmut or Avdiivka, we will defend it as long as we have the strength to do so. If we don't have enough forces, we will see that it is better to save people, of course, we will make this decision and save people. And then we will win it back. It will all depend on the situation. Again, there is no need to make something that looks like a show around this. You saw the conditions in which the guys were performing their tasks. They do it absolutely honestly. Absolutely for the sake of their children, their women, to live in peace. And they are there now. We are discussing this law to ensure that there is justice. Everyone has to defend Ukraine. Not only those who were enlisted in the military commissariat and then in a military unit in 2022-2023. Unfortunately, the war continues. Thank you very much for your question.

- (unintelligible) Is Marinka captured?  What the Russians have been saying about Marinka since yesterday? Is there any official position on this yet? Thank you. 

- Our official position is the same as I told Yuliia, that we are defending every piece of our land. Every single piece. But when enemy shells start digging up this narrow piece of land with stones and earth and our soldiers... the lives of our soldiers are more important to us. Therefore, Marinka, which has been held for almost two years, first street by street, and then house by house... as of today, our troops are still in the northern part of it, our troops have prepared a defensive line outside this settlement. But I can say that this settlement no longer exists. The methodology is exactly the same as it was in Bakhmut. Street after street, block after block is being destroyed. Our fighters are dug in. After that, we have what we have. So, again, this is war. And the fact that we have now withdrawn to the outskirts of Marinka, and in some places have already equipped positions behind Marinka, I think there is nothing in this that can cause any public outcry, let's say. This is the war. Unfortunately, this is how it is.