Zelenskyy’s press conference and RF’s breakthrough on Pokrovsk
Censor.NET Editor-in-Chief Yurii Butusov analyzes Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s press conference and talks about the situation in the Pokrovsk direction.
One of the main topics is the press conference of the President of Ukraine, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But we will start with a much more important one. Today (27.08 - ed.), after three days of fighting, our troops left the city of Novohrodivka, Donetsk region. It is an important settlement. More than 20 thousand people lived in Novohrodivka before the war. For your understanding, only 5,000 people lived in Sudzha, Kursk region, which our troops took control of. Novohrodivka is 20 thousand and it is part of a large agglomeration: Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, Selydove, Novohrodivka and a number of villages. The capture of Novohrodivka means that the enemy has reached the outskirts of the town of Selydove, and we'll look at the map. The enemy is now in Mykhailivka, a suburb of Selydove.
The enemy captured Novohrodivka
Map of the situation in Novohrodivka-Selydove
In fact, according to the situation in the evening (27.08 - ed.) at 19.00, the enemy approached the outskirts of Selydove and what is shaded in grey here is actually yellow - it is under the enemy's control. The enemy has made a deep advance on the outskirts of Selidove.
Let's look at the map of Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad.
I can tell you that from Novohrodivka, the enemy will now go directly to Pokrovsk, which is about 8 kilometers away, so the enemy is actually already in the suburbs of Pokrovsk. And the distance to Myrnohrad is the same. The situation is critical because, in this area, there is also the village of Krutyi Yar, north of Novohrodivka, and even north of Novohrodivka, the village of Hrodivka. Our troops will hold Hrodivka, the troops of the 151st Mechanized Brigade. Novohrodivka, Hrodivka, Krutyi Yar - this was the last line of defense before Pokrovsk. Near Krutyi Yar, north of Novohrodivka, we are on the map here. So, reaching this line allows the enemy to take two dominant spoil tips, and on these spoil tips, the enemy will now be able to deploy antennas and gain a tactical advantage in drones, in reconnaissance, in aerial reconnaissance over our troops in Selydove.
Here on the map for August 22, 12 km to Pokrovsk, the situation has changed, the enemy is advancing. Every day there is an advance, we can't stop the enemy. Hrodivka is still there, the enemy has taken Novohrodivka, Krutyi Yar is right in the village, and now it will not be possible to hold this line Hrodivka-Krutyi Yar-Novohrodivka, because the enemy has approached Selydove, it is no longer here, as on this map for August 22, 6 km, the enemy is already on the outskirts. Novohrodivka has been completely captured by the enemy. Therefore, the enemy's advance is very fast.
The situation is very dangerous, the enemy has captured the village of Memryk, the whole area has been captured since May 1. This is what is bright yellow, this is what the enemy has captured since May 1. The enemy is advancing and almost every day in this direction they have started to capture settlements.
As of today's map, they have captured Kalynove and Memryk, and there are constant battles in Karlivka, the enemy has entered Mykhailivka and the outskirts of Selydove, Novohrodivka has been completely captured, and the enemy continues to advance. The situation is catastrophic in this area. Our generals like to write in their reports that the situation is tense but under control. But it is extremely tense and uncontrolled. The situation is uncontrolled, as we can see, because of the enemy's advance. This is a deep topic that needs to be discussed. There is no problem that the enemy has a huge advantage in numbers. This is not the case. I talk to the soldiers, commanders of all our formations in this area. According to the map of August 22, the breakthrough line, i.e. Hrodivka, is held by our troops. In fact, the enemy's breakthrough area, if you look at where the enemy is advancing the most, that is, the Selydove-Novohrodivka area, where they are actively moving, is now less than 10 kilometers away. But we cannot stop the enemy there in this direction. The enemy is stopped somewhere, for example, they advanced on Hrodivka, they attacked and attacked, and the 151st Brigade and attached units managed to stabilize the situation. But they shifted to the flank, and there they had success.
Novohrodivka was captured, the enemy was approaching for 5 days, approached Novohrodivka, and the fighting for Novohrodivka in the city itself lasted for 3 days. I don't remember anything like this since the first shock when the enemy was just driving in early March 2022, because there was no defense, but this is the first time our troops have to leave the city after 3-day battles. Most of Novohrodivka - the fighting was very short-lived, there were battles on the outskirts, and in the city itself for 3 days. Most of the high-rise buildings in Novohrodivka, the capital buildings, they survived. Now all these buildings, all these bases, facilities in the industrial zone, many of them, have been captured by the enemy. In Novohrodivka, the Russians received high-rise buildings for deploying antidrones, observation posts, firing points, accumulation points, a large number of basements, buildings in the industrial zone, in the residential area. Now they have a very convenient frontier for further offensive in three directions - Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and Selydove. And now in this configuration, they will go straight to Pokrovsk. Now it is an opportunity for them to capture two large construction zones, important communication hubs, and then they will simply divide Donbas into two parts.
Because Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad-Selydove was a key communication hub that allowed us to move and maneuver along the frontline in Donbas. Now we are deprived of this, and soon the enemy may capture it altogether and use this junction itself. Avdiivka is already deep in the rear. All this is happening literally before our eyes. The frontline is advancing rapidly, and the enemy cannot be held at any frontier for a long time in this direction. And all of this is happening on a very small front - up to 20 kilometers. It cannot be stabilized. And this has already been happening in May, June, July, and August. The situation is simply catastrophic even in its consequences. The Myrnohrad-Selydove agglomeration is of key strategic importance for the defense of Donbas. And for the defense of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Zaporizhzhia region. These are obvious things. For comparison, before the war, Pokrovsk was home to 60,000 people, Myrnohrad to more than 40,000, Selydove to 20,000, Novohrodivka to 20,000, not to mention the villages around them. In other words, up to 150 thousand people lived there, just in these 4 cities of this agglomeration. We understand the scale. 150 thousand and 5 thousand in Sudzha, in the Kursk region.
I am not saying that Sudzha and the Kursk operation were not necessary. They were necessary. I'm just talking about accents and priorities. In our information field, in the telethon, in the speeches of the President, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. I mean, it is more important than I know how many times, it is Ukrainian territory, strategic positions, important large cities. Pokrovsk has the only remaining coking coal mine in Ukraine that is still operating to this day, which produces coking coal for our entire metallurgy. It is simply unbelievable that this situation, the loss of Novohrodivka, so rapid, the failure at the front and the enemy's breakthrough, was not the main topic of the press conference of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In my opinion, if the President, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, held a press conference today, the first thing I personally expected from him and what I would have wanted to ask him was about this catastrophic situation in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad direction. I think this is the main thing that should have been discussed today. Why was Novohrodivka surrendered in three days, with almost no serious fighting? Why can't they stop the breakthrough in the Pokrovsk direction after four months? And why is the President's decree and his repeated statements and orders to build defensive fortifications not being implemented? Because there are no fortifications in Novohrodivka, Pokrovsk, or on the outskirts of Novohrodivka, Pokrovsk, Selidove, or Myrnohrad, as envisaged by the President's decree. The presidential decree on the construction of fortifications has not been implemented. And the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in my opinion, should have said what he has done and is doing to stabilize the situation in the critical section of the front. Not just the good things. It is very good that there is Kursk, there is an offensive, there is success. This is positive news, the right news. But how is it possible to keep silent about this catastrophic real-life situation that requires immediate decisions and responsibility? There is a lot of talk about the loss of control, and I am in constant contact with almost every brigade in this area.
Colonel Ledovyi and General Hnatov
I can really say that there is a loss of control at the level of the operational and tactical department, which is headed by Colonel Ledovyi, a loss of control at the level of the operational and strategic department, General Hnatov has now received another rank, I don't know why, he was given it on Independence Day. Maybe for Novohrodivka? Why do we give the commander of an operational and strategic group of troops another rank? What battle did he win? These 20 settlements, the losses for them, for Novohrodivka, for the approach of the enemy, for the complete disorder in the management of the troops? Is that what they give him for that? And of course, I would like the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who is in charge, who controls, who every evening says that he has heard information on the Pokrovsk direction, well, he listens, he listens, I want to know what he listens to, why his orders are not being fulfilled, where are the fortifications? Where is the engineering equipment in general? Where is the command of the troops? Why, for example, Colonel Ledovyi, a man who has absolutely no experience in commanding troops, who has never commanded a brigade at all, has never commanded even a battalion during a full-scale war, has been appointed commander of the operational and tactical group of troops, just a staff colonel from the Army Command, when he communicates, sets tasks, commanders, well, they just walk out the door and laugh bitterly. This person is just learning in general, he is just learning to realize what is happening in the war. But he is learning in the highest position in this area. The result is a complete mess, the operational and strategic command - General Hnatov, I don't know what he is doing, because the assessment of the troops' actions in this area, not only the soldiers and commanders will tell you, is unsatisfactory. Management, interaction, tasking. And that is why we are losing so many settlements due to the loss of this control. We are losing the most valuable thing - people. Without performing combat missions. We are losing people. New units have been deployed there, something is being sent there, and I want to tell you that none of our fighters in this area have the impression that the enemy is insurmountable, very powerful, that we cannot stop it. The commanders have been saying the same thing for several months, these 4 months of offensive, - let us prepare the defense. While someone is holding the first line, let us go to the second line, clear these plantings, create firing sectors, dig in, and camouflage ourselves from drones. We need time because nothing has been built. Give us at least a shovel and some wood to do something with. Give us trained troops on the second line, who will have at least a few weeks to build a dense, adequate line of defense. And then let the enemy approach. We will destroy it. And the enemy will stop. Just as it stops in other parts of the front. All this does not happen month after month. Village after village is lost. Today a city is lost. Three days of fighting. The enemy is on the outskirts of Pokrovsk. How long will Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Selydove hold out with this kind of management? With this paper Colonel Ledovyi and General Hnatov, who is simply surprising with his behavior. In my opinion, the military should take responsibility. And here they are constantly blaming someone. Someone did something wrong. A company commander, a battalion commander, a brigade commander. The command and control center, it seems, is like desk clerks. The OSGT and the OTG. A group of colonels and generals who sit on watch in the dormitory and shout out who comes in and out. They are constantly writing letters of complaint, complaints, and internal investigations. I've seen a lot, read a lot, looked at world history, looked at the experience of our current war for 10 years, a full-scale war. I have never seen that at any part of the frontline with punitive reprimands, internal investigations, constant bellyaches, false paper reports, someone somewhere stopped the Russians. If we look at any area where Russian troops stop, there is always our adequate brigade commander, battalion commanders, headquarters, competent, motivated soldiers who produce results. We don't have all this here, because we've had a bunch of brigade commanders dismissed, and this is a question for Oleksandr Syrskyi, who appointed some gray mice to a lot of command positions who are afraid to report anything, to complain to their superiors, who always say what Syrskyi, Hnatov, Ledovyi want to hear, that everything is fine, everything is tense. And down below, lies begin, the reports, applications are distorted, someone lies that they will gain a position, someone lies that they entered, someone lies that they restored, someone lies that they conducted assault operations. And why? It's not because people are bad, it's because they are put in such conditions by those who set the task. Because when the task is to restore a position, and the enemy has been there for a long time, and you have to plan an offensive operation, not an attack, you have to write a report that does not correspond to reality. When there are no people to rotate, no fire cover, no drone cover, there are no own drones, and you can't hold the position, the report begins, and they no longer write the truth, they write what is necessary for the headquarters, everyone absolves themselves of responsibility, it's not me, it's the soldiers who left, on their own. Then someone says that we went on a rotation, took the line, and there is nothing there, and the commander comes out and looks, there is no defensive position, I'm going to enter this position, I'll lose people, I won't be able to fulfill the task, who will I send? And he writes, we are here, at these points, and he is not at these points, he has moved away, he has established himself not there, but further, and his neighbor does not know about it, his neighbor is being outflanked. There is a disregard for reality, and this is how it happens. It's a paper war, a war of reports, investigations, commissions, and the result is on the map, on the map of advances. And, unfortunately, there is no one on this map, and we cannot tell you at the moment. The president should tell his subordinates, the military, soldiers, and commanders. He is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, not just a person who goes out in the evening and reads out on a piece of paper, on a prompter, what Yermak and Tatarov wrote to him. He has to have his own responsibility. All this is missing.
I want to tell you that the main factor why the enemy is advancing is the lies in the reports. It starts at the top. It does not come from the soldier. It comes from those who write these reports to restore the position for tomorrow at 8.00 a.m., instead of organizing a battle. Hold the position and hold on, instead of organizing defense. These bureaucrats who are just wiping themselves with these papers all the time so that they don't get visited by an investigator, they don't think about results, how to stop the Russians. They only think about their careers. About another asterisk, another title. It's just shameful. It's just shameful. The loss of control now, it is at the level of the OTG and the OSG. It is not at the level of soldiers. I believe that a soldier who enters a position now, if he has been trained, if he is manageable, is a person motivated to perform tasks. A person who came to Donbas and took a stand is not a coward. Now, to take up a position, you need to have courage. Under the control of drones, under adjusted shelling, under the drops. This is a risk in itself. Therefore, it is not the soldiers who should be blamed. And for those who are writing reports, I don't know what the position of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is, why they are sitting so calmly. We lost Krasnohorivka, we lost Novohrodivka, and there are no conclusions. Sometimes commanders are dismissed for no reason at all. He is the brigade commander of the 59th Brigade, Bohdan Shevchuk. He lost the town of Krasnohorivka, the villages of Netailove and Nevelske. Huge losses in the brigade. He is in office, Oleksandr Syrskyi likes him, and that's it. That's enough. The results are not important. The man is 31 years old, he is training to lead troops. And no conclusions are drawn. Well, he lost, okay. Keep fighting. And there is no management. The main thing that the commanders say is that there is no control from above.
Not a word was said about any of this at Volodymyr Zelenskyy's press conference. For some reason, the president avoided the word "Novohrodivka" today. And he did not tell people the truth about the situation at the front, about his responsibility, about his activities as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. And he hid important information from the public that such an important city for us, part of a large agglomeration, was lost in three days, with almost no serious fighting in the city. It's just shameful.
Analysis of President Zelenskyy's press conference
Let's move on to the president's press conference. Because there are other questions about the mental fatigue, or perhaps overwork, of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Let's talk about it, listen to him and draw conclusions from what we see. These are the most important fragments. We will watch in order and comment.
Questions to the President on the situation in Donbas
Zelenskyy's response: "...we need information that this is their main mission in the east of our country - occupation. The complete occupation of Donbas. Our task is to prevent this possibility. We want them to constantly promise their society to do this and constantly postpone the deadlines. And this is our task in the East of the state - to stabilize the situation. Because to stabilize the situation, they will have to keep their most powerful brigades there. This is very important. This is also a stage of other actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But it is not easy. You are absolutely right. This is the most difficult thing. We need to stabilize the situation there. We have to do everything for that."
I think you can hear it yourself, frankly, a little bit of anxiety when a specific question is asked about what to do in Donbas. "Radio Liberty asks a specific question. What do we hear in the answer? "Stabilization is important. We need to stabilize, stabilize, because we need stabilization. Because without stabilization, there will be no stabilization, and Russian troops will advance." Frankly speaking, it is very difficult to find a cause-and-effect logical connection in the president's words when he is not reading from a piece of paper or a prompter. If Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke without a piece of paper and without a prompter, I think it would be inappropriate to talk about any rating. Because as soon as he is asked an open-ended question, we just hear things that need to be deciphered with a psychoanalyst.
In fact, Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not answer this question. What should he have answered? What depends on him? And what depends on him? First, fortification work, because it is done by a civil-military administrator. The administrations that are directly subordinate to him personally, not to Syrskyi. He had to say so. What did he do himself? For defense and stabilization. Nothing is being done. Zero. Now the question arises. What is the president doing to ensure that, well, the offensive has been going on for four months? What is being done for stabilization in general? What does stabilization mean? Why hasn't this area been stabilized for four months, while other areas have been stabilized? What measures is he taking to save Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad and Selydove? Are reserves not being sent there? Are these cities being prepared for defense? These are just obvious things that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief should say. Because he has said this before. And he announced that it would happen. Preparation of reserves, mobilization. He signed the law on mobilization. Are there people in training centers now? What is being done to replenish the troops? Have we replenished our battalions there? Mobilization is going on right now. What is the size of the battalions that are fighting there? And why are there large losses among the mobilized? This is the work of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's office. This is what he is obliged to answer at press conferences.
Why are there so many missing persons? Every day I get dozens of people writing to me, asking me to help them find them there, there, there. Why can't the president take control of this key issue? And why are there so many missing in some units? What is the reason for such losses of missing persons? There are drones, there are various means, there are, for example, our defense positions. I want to remind you that when our troops withdrew from Avdiivka, what did Volodymyr Zelenskyy say? That they withdrew to prepared positions. What did Oleksandr Syrskyi say? They withdrew to prepared positions. So, what happened? I want to tell you that there are no large tank columns attacking there. For example, in the Kurakhove direction, we can see it. Regularly, every 3-4 days, the 79th Air Assault Brigade and its attached units repel massive attacks with armored vehicles. And here they are not. The enemy is crawling on foot in small groups with drones, artillery and mortars. They keep crawling from planting to planting. And so it crawls 100, 200, 500 meters. And it does not stop. And in other areas it crawls, they kill it. And here, for some reason, it crawls and does not stop. Unfortunately, the President, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, did not answer this question.
Question to the President: "The situation in the Donetsk region is difficult, very difficult for Ukraine. Many people in Germany, as well as in Ukraine, do not fully understand why, in these difficult circumstances, you decided to conduct an operation in the Kursk region instead of strengthening the eastern direction. Could you please clarify your strategic goals? Thank you."
Zelenskyy's response: "I can, but not everything. Some people don't understand and don't know, and that's fine. Otherwise, we would not have succeeded in Kursk region. That's why it's very important that a narrow circle of people knew about this operation, and that's why the operation is successful. Of course, there are goals that I can say, and of course there are goals that are very important that I cannot say. The Kursk operation has brought several things. First of all, the occupation of Kharkiv region has been stopped. We had information about the creation of buffer zones in the Kharkiv region, and then in the north, we did not know the specifics, but we understood that Sumy and Chernihiv regions could be in the plans. What we received from our intelligence, and from our partners' intelligence, by the way, was about the movement of Russian troops, how it could be, and so on. The sequence of the desire for these, let's say, as they called them in the Kremlin, buffer zones, was unknown to us, a clear sequence, but we understood that it could be. The Kursk operation resolved the issue of not having Sumy and Chernihiv regions occupied. Moreover, it defeated a large number of troops, I don't know if the Commander-in-Chief has communicated today about the number of enemies, I think he hasn't communicated in detail, it's probably too early to talk about it. We defeated a serious group, a large number of troops. As for the Donetsk region, you have to understand that this is their strategic target. And today, the movement after the Kursk operation, by the way, from the Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions has actually taken place. What will happen next depends on us, on how long we will successfully continue the Kursk operation."
Yes, what can I say? The Kursk operation, of course, in my opinion, is the right decision, a strategic decision, a well-executed decision. Our combat-ready formations and a significant amount of ammunition are concentrated there, and that is why we achieved surprise. Therefore, it should be noted that this operation was planned personally by Oleksandr Syrskyi, it was planned with the consent of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and these are successful actions. But I want to say that it is wrong to oppose either the Kursk region or Sudzha with 5,000 inhabitants or something else. This is not the way to do things. We have one big front. There are different areas on this front. Kupyansk is under attack, Chasiv Yar is under attack, Toretsk, New York, Myrnohrad, Pokrovsk, Selydove, Kurakhove, and Vuhledar. Eight operational areas. But this is where the enemy is advancing. And in the direction of Pokrovsk, it is advancing continuously. For four months now. Of course, it's good that we have the Kursk region, but the fact that we are doing well in one area does not mean that it somehow completely offsets or levels the situation in the other eight. We need stabilization not in Kursk region, we need stabilization in Donbas. In the Kursk region, active actions are possible, in other areas, it's all good. We should not exchange one for another. And I want to say that, in my opinion, we have enough forces there for such real stabilization. The problem is the lack of control, lack of resources, and lack of advance planning for defense. Not once in these four months from Avdiivka onwards have we encountered enemy troops in pre-prepared positions. The situation is the same everywhere. They knock out an observation post from one position, and then let's go dig in the next one with shovels. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. We had a few strongholds prepared, though. We dug a few strongholds. They cannot stop the entire offensive. But in some places they were dug. And what is happening? Our troops are fighting for these empty plantations, empty observation posts completely knocking out the infantry. And then, when the fight reaches the stronghold that was dug in advance with equipment, there is no one to hold it. And our infantry simply forces back, passing that stronghold. Because these strongholds that are being dug are not ready for immediate use. For some reason, the government and the civil-military administration are digging up strongholds and not protecting them from dumping, from drones. I just don't understand this. They don't block them, they don't protect them, they don't mask them. And there's a concrete box, a dugout, a bunker, okay, that's great. They have dug trenches. But there are no overhead protection. It's a huge digging stronghold that should be occupied by a full platoon, at least 30 fighters. And they have to spend some time there to close the top of it themselves, to make some wood, to disguise everything, to take camouflage nets from volunteers, to disguise themselves. But in reality, 5-7 infantrymen come to this unfinished stronghold, exhausted, having been knocked out of some planting before. They come there, go to sleep, and then look in the morning. And they are open to drones, they are bombed with drops, FPV, easily. And they need to equip the positions for a platoon to defend them with an incomplete squad. And what happens? Then the enemy attacks, people can't hold it all, they don't have time to equip it, and they just leave these good positions as well. And that's it. No one is responsible for this, no one is interested in it, unfortunately. First of all, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is not interested. Because he is in Sumy region commenting on Kursk, and he is commenting here. For some reason, he doesn't find time to comment on Ukrainian cities, on what is happening now, on the tragedy in Donbas, and he's not interested. Apparently, there is no good PR. Or there is no responsibility for the fact that it is Ukraine that is losing. It's not surprising, unfortunately.
Questions to Zelenskyy about Tatarov
The president's response: "As for Tatarov, I also didn't want to talk about it, although we had an off-the-record meeting. I am surprised by your question. We had an off-the-record meeting with you, with me, with Ukrainian journalists. I don't remember whether it was you or someone else, but I'm sure they were there. And at the off-the-record meeting, I told you about Tatarov. But if it's not enough for you, I'll repeat it to you, I didn't want to say it. The United States and everyone knows this. Oleh Tatarov and Vasyl Maliuk were killing Chechens in Ukraine, in Kyiv, while you were not here. Isn't it enough? To kick him out so that he can be killed by the Russians? Because I have already said this, and I said that this is not public information, and I told all the media at our non-public meeting."
This is actually a funny story, a fragment of the president's press conference. To be honest, it's even strange to listen to it. In this formulation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy behaves like an offended child. Although the question he was asked was absolutely correct. Oleh Tatarov is the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, curator of law enforcement and the judiciary. He is always Zelenskyy's most powerful security official. Since Zelenskyy has 5-6 managers running the country, all law enforcement agencies, including customs, the Security Service of Ukraine, the police, and the Interior Ministry, are run by Tatarov. All law enforcement activities, all courts, all these calls to the courts, all this is managed by Tatarov. It's all run by one person. Just one button. Even Yanukovych did not have this, and neither did Kuchma. And here, everything is in one person's hands. Let's comment on this first from the point of view of facts. First of all. Oleh Tatarov is just a quiet office clerk who sits in an office, who has never risked anything, who sits in an office on Bankova Street, on the phone, whom and where he can kill. It was just an office mouse that went and killed someone. I don't know who this is intended for. It's just ridiculous. The President was just ridiculous in this matter today. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was supposed to be a responsible, serious, Supreme Commander-in-Chief during the war, is ridiculous. Who has Tatarov killed, who is capable of killing? This man never leaves his office at all. And he cannot leave. He is in charge of everything. That's why this information is a complete lie. Oleh Tatarov has nothing to do with any operations that would involve someone somewhere, Chechens or Russians. Just nothing at all. I can say this because I communicate with those who conduct operations. If Oleh Tatarov is involved in any operation, then you don't have to say it in words. Show us what he did. How did he manage to kill anyone? It's just ridiculous. Hasn't Yermak killed anyone there yet? Why is Yermak being held? And Bakanov, who did he kill before he was removed from office? And Dmytruk, Artem Dmytruk, a servant of the people, whom Tatarov let across the border in a car, travelled illegally to Moldova. Did he kill anyone to be released? Well, this is just an absurd situation, to be honest. With this answer, President Zelenskyy first of all killed common sense and any credibility of his words. He has simply turned his performance as a statesman into a farce. We all understand that Oleh Tatarov has no involvement in harming any enemies of Ukraine. This is Portnov's lawyer, the lawyer of all the oligarchs. His main task is to get everyone who pays him out of prison and criminal cases. To squeeze real estate, property. This is what he does. He also supervises smuggling. This is Oleh Tatarov's speciality. And to say that in his free time, he is not calling district judges and controlling which customs offices, which customs officer, how much cache he or his structures will bring to Kyiv. That he is also killing someone in his free time. If he can kill anyone, it's only some businessmen from whom he is trying to extort something. And I'm sure he doesn't do it with his own hands. These are absurd accusations from Zelenskyy that are not substantiated by anything.
I want to say that this example with Tatarov, in my opinion, is an example of how Zelenskyy's consciousness, which is very vulnerable, is being manipulated by these 5-6 managers who are in his ears and have access to him. Let's recall how many times Zelenskyy and his entourage have said that there have been some attempts on his life since the beginning of the war. Arestovych said that some saboteurs were breaking into Bankova Street, that he was even looking for a grenade launcher himself to fight Russian subversive groups. There were so many reports from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and our various structures, Podoliak said that saboteurs in Kyiv had attempted to assassinate Zelenskyy. Almost 3 years have passed since those tragic events in February and March 2022. During this time, the circumstances of almost all shootings, all so-called sabotage groups in Kyiv and the surrounding area have been established. Unfortunately, all these cases of shootings, without exception, are fire on their own people. This is when our people were killed because of the lack of preparation for the war, the lack of preparation for the protection of important facilities, the protection of communications. All of these cases are the shootings at the Solomianskyi administration, the shootings at the Beresteiska metro station, the two shootings in Obolon. All of these are cases when our people received false information from the Ukrainian leadership, from the Ministry of Defence. We remember when Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote that Russian trucks were breaking into Obolon. And after reading this message, local TDF fighters shot a vehicle of the 72nd Mechanised Brigade. As a result, three soldiers were killed. Friends, there were also all these cases with the subversive groups, there was even brief shelling there. Who only was not shelled there. All these cases, without exception, are not subversive groups. To date, there is not a single fact, not a single video, not a single photo, not a single criminal case involving a specific Russian saboteur who would have tried to attack Zelenskyy in Kyiv. But there is talk about it.
I have made this conclusion for myself: Zelenskyy and his entourage - Yermak and Tatarov - are constantly scaring Zelenskyy with assassination attempts and terrorist attacks. The only purpose is to manipulate him, to control him, to write him their texts so that he reads from a prompter, without journalists, evening addresses, everything is fine with him. That is an absolute lie, to put it simply. That's why these exploits of Tatarov are fictitious, they are as credible as these attempts on Zelenskyy's life. And the source is the same. Tatarov himself, who sits there in his office and says that he is also some kind of hero there. This is a complete lie.
Journalist Mykhailo Tkach aptly said: ‘And what now? The president is now accusing journalists that Tatarov will be killed by the Russians if he is dismissed. This is interesting. And what now? Tatarov should never be dismissed? He can only be protected from the Russians in office."
It seems to me that Tatarov communicates very well with pro-Russian agents, with Portnov. He was Portnov's lawyer. Portnov still runs the judicial system through him. And he is doing well. Tatarov has excellent relations with pro-Russian agents. Where did you get the information that Tatarov is in danger? I think that he could be given a hero of the Russian Federation for his activities. I do not rule it out at all.
That's why these talks are very funny, that you can't fire a corrupt official who is involved in a bunch of criminal cases, who is himself a defendant in a NABU corruption case, who bribed to cover up the developer Mykytas, who manually manipulates all the corruption scandals, thanks to whom the ‘servant of the people’ Dmytruk fled abroad, the ‘servant of the people’ Trubitsyn fled abroad, a lot of people fled abroad, because Tatarov is sitting there and running the law enforcement agencies and managing everything. This is the main reason, of course. And these ridiculous childish excuses, references to some Chechens, well, this is complete nonsense.
And which Chechens could Tatarov have killed? Who, which ones? We don't have ethnic killings here, we have saboteurs. We have saboteurs, for example, the banker Kireev, who was eliminated by the SSU. After he was released, he was included by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Minsk negotiating team, came to the talks and voiced some pro-Russian views. After that, the SSU counter-intelligence officers actually detained him and he was shot dead by one of the SSU officers in the car. This is a well-known case that took place in early March 2022. Everything is clear here. There is a person, there is unofficial information about him, there are actions. And, as we can see, the SSU leadership, in principle, the president agreed that they acted in a forced manner in those circumstances. The President has no complaints against the counterintelligence officers. This is a clear story. And what about the Chechens? Who was killed? Were they Ukrainian citizens?
Who did Tatarov kill there? Let's look at the whole thing. If some Russian saboteurs were eliminated there, then it's normal, it's war. I am filming interviews with Ukrainian soldiers who do not have state protection, but they did not kill a few people at the beginning of the war, fictional people whom the president cannot even name, but they killed hundreds of Russians. These people are not hiding, they are fighting, they are defending the country. This is their conscious choice. They consciously decide to disclose information about themselves in order to be a role model for their units and raise funds for weapons. This is a normal story. Why is Tatarov worried? What does he have to fear? There is simply no event. Tatarov did not fight, he did not leave his office, his luxurious villa in Koncha Zaspa, which he also obtained illegally, his income does not allow him to live in such palaces. He also drives cars that he cannot afford according to his income. And everything is fine with him. Who is threatening him? What can he do? A person sees life exclusively through the window. So this is a completely strange story and a very sad story.
Questions to the President on the latest developments in Ukraine
The President's response: "I thought it was too early to talk about it, but I would like to see the public's assessment of this, of our people who work 24-7 at defence companies. The first Ukrainian ballistic missile was tested positively. I congratulate our defence industry on this. I can't share any more details about this missile, but I'm happy about it nonetheless."
The problem with this press conference, as always, is that Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes responsibility and talks not about what is a real problem, not about what really needs to be addressed by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the President, but about some things that are completely unrelated to real problems, which are detached from them. And he does not want to be responsible for the problems. It's just like the Kemskaya volost (small administrative district). Who will talk about Pokrovsk? Who will talk about Myrnohrad, their defence, what to do? Where to look, how to organise defence? Who will communicate? Okay, for four months nothing has happened, the enemy is advancing. Why does the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who constantly says dozens of times that he is listening to the data? Why does he do it once? He cannot come and check with the brigade commanders. Friends, I gave an order, for example, I issued a decree to build fortifications. How many strongholds have you been given and are they suitable for defence? Please tell us, brigadier commanders, what is the status of the strongholds? Was any of them completely ready and handed over to you on time? Do you receive competent and trained replenishment? What is the quality of people mobilised, trained in training centres and sent to you for replenishment in brigades? How many replenishments do you receive? Are you getting your share of the million drones I promised you? Does the President want to tell us how many Mavic drones he and the Ministry of Defence are supplying to this part of the frontline? How many FPVs, at what frequencies? Do the FPVs that the state buys work? He doesn't want to tell me? It's simple. You have to come and look people in the eye honestly and ask them questions. Instead, we are told about anything. Some missiles, some Tatarov killed someone. I mean, you know, if the president doesn't understand the situation in Pokrovsk and doesn't want to deal with it, if Tatarov is such a powerful operative, then Tatarov should be sent immediately to Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Selydove to eliminate this breakthrough. Why did he kill some Chechens at the beginning of the war? Let him kill a few hundred Russians. According to Zelenskyy's words, he is absolutely capable of doing this. A powerful leader, one of 5-6 managers, can do anything, but for some reason he somehow can't get out of the office. This would be the right systematic approach. As it is, the president does not go there himself, Tatarov does not go, he is busy with something. We only discuss Kursk region, missiles and all that. Spaceships.
Answers to questions from the YouTube channel's viewers:
A question concerning Tatarov and the Chechens
It is not clear which Chechens. The Chechens who are fighting on the side of Ukraine. It's the president who is just saying the words, and he doesn't realise the consequences. What Chechens? There are pro-Ukrainian Chechens. There is Adam Asmayev, there are people who are fighting for the freedom of Ukraine, who have been fighting for many years. We should at least respect them and say that... Who did Tataraw kill? His bandit partners, business competitors? Or were they Russian saboteurs? Who are they? Or were they just people who came under his thumb? And did he shoot at all? I understand that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing his successor, because, according to Zelenskyy's logic, he cannot leave the Civil Service at all. I also don't know of any Chechens who are anti-Ukrainian in Kyiv. There is not a single fact, not a single piece of evidence that there was any Russian sabotage group in Kyiv, made up of Chechens, Russians, or Martians. As of February, March, April 2022, there are no facts.
Questions about Kireev. Budanov's words about Kireev.
I don't know what Mr Budanov is doing there. To be honest, many of the statements that Budanov makes are completely untrue. That's why it's hard for me to comment. This is a separate media personality who is mainly engaged in giving interviews instead of planning military operations. I mean, this in itself should be the subject of an investigation. What links Budanov and Kireev? In fact, according to the criminal case file, Denys Kireev was detained and shot dead in a car by an officer of the Security Service of Ukraine's Counterintelligence Department. And according to the testimony of the SSU officers, this happened because Kireev defended pro-Russian positions and had ties with the Russian Federation. This is true. According to the materials, the interrogations, the testimony of the SSU officers, the conversations, it is obvious that they had specific charges against Kireev, and no one has explained who included Kireev in the Ukrainian negotiating team in Minsk, on what grounds. An ordinary banker, a member of the Party of Regions for many years. Who included him there? If it was Budanov himself, then questions arise about Mr Budanov in general. Whose side was he on? At least at that point in the negotiations. What negotiations, what positions did he defend? Was it the Party of Regions? There is no information on this yet. I think that we will never get an honest answer to this during Zelenskyy's term in office. But these strange negotiations before the war, Yermak's comprehensive truce, which led to the war. Yermak and Zelenskyy, who lied to the people that everything is over, there is a truce, there will be no war, don't worry, don't listen to anyone, don't listen to Western politicians, we have everything under control. They lied then, and they are lying now. This is my conclusion.
Was there an attempt on our part to break into the Belgorod region today?
I do not comment on such things. Actions in other territories, not on the territory of Ukraine, are exclusively the responsibility of our security forces. If we move there with significant forces and the General Staff recognises that we are on that territory, I will comment on it. For now, the only thing I can comment on, I consider it necessary to comment on, is the defence of the territory of Ukraine and the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, whom we must and should all defend together, because we are all part of a single country.
I am very grateful to you for the broadcast. I was very concerned about what I saw at the press conference. The psychological state of Volodymyr Zelenskyy raises serious questions about his adequacy. It seems to me that the president and his 5-6 managers were simply detached from reality in this process of manual control. And the fact that I heard nothing, the president did not say a single word about Novohrodivka today, he did not even find a second to talk about what was lost. He is not interested in this at all. He lives in his own world. I am seriously concerned about this. Today I heard at a press conference a man who is completely detached from reality, does not even want to talk about it, and, what is worse, he probably does not even know the situation. I am sure that if he had received a report about Novohrodivka, about its loss, he would have said so. I think he's just being misinformed, he takes it all on faith, because he doesn't want to receive bad news. He only wants to comment on the good. And his entourage, these 5-6 managers, headed by Yermak, Tatarov, Mashovets, they simply tell him lies about the situation at the front. Or they don't report to him at all, which is even worse than a lie. So, friends, I want to say that this is a very dangerous situation for our society. The country's leadership, just like before the war and now, has simply moved away from reality, ignoring and denying it. And this is a serious problem for civil society. And we definitely need to strengthen it. We will intensify it, we will write about the situation on the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad direction.
At a press conference today, I was horrified to see that Zelenskyy did not know what he was talking about. I have to inform people, now civil society, I will inform them simply on the basis of communication with brigade and battalion commanders, with the soldiers themselves. Because we have heard nothing at all. There are losses, heavy losses, and there is no adequate response from the top. And, you know, it's not hopeless. In many parts of the front, for example, the 58th Infantry Brigade is holding such a large front. They are holding it confidently, fighting back, and it is still difficult, but they have a competent brigade commander. Ruslan Shevchuk, not to be confused with Bohdan from the 59th, is a competent man, the brigade's work is well organised, the attached units interact adequately, and a small miracle happened there, the enemy was stopped. Let's look at many other areas in the same way. Kharkiv, Lyptsi, Starytsia, Vovchansk, Borova, in many areas, let's look at Klishchiivka, Chasiv Yar, there are adequate commanders, and the enemy is sticking, suffering losses, retreating and looking for places where there is no combat capability. Unfortunately, we can see that the leadership of Ukraine has simply evaded responsibility for this by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Draft evaders, evaders are in power, and this was a press conference, unfortunately, of an president who is draft dodger, not a president who has to win the war, and in order to win the war, you need to take responsibility for the results. You have to have independent thinking, not read what Yermak wrote on the prompter tonight, and you have to be responsible for the situation, know it, watch it. I would like to remind you that on 8 February this year, when Zelenskyy was replacing the Chief of the Army Zaluzhnyi with the Chief of the Army Syryskyi, he said that there were eight points of the President's order, published on the website of the President's Office, that he wanted changes at the front. One of the points was that generals should know the frontline. But not a single general knows the frontline in Pokrovske, Myrnohrad, Selydove. Not a single one. What is being reported is a lie. And today, the absence of the word ‘Novohrodivka’ in the president's words shows that he is incapable. The president does not even receive objective information. This is the biggest problem now.
Dear friends, nevertheless, on most of the frontline, our troops are heroically holding off all enemy attacks, very heavy fighting, the enemy is advancing. But our soldiers say they can stop the offensive. This requires top-level planning, command, control, intelligence, and interaction between units. We need to prepare the battlefield, equip the forefields to destroy the enemy, mine it, build engineering structures, fortifications, and rotate troops in time to avoid rotations of 30-40 days. And then a miracle happens. The enemy suffers losses, spends its forces and stops. And this can be done along the entire front line. We have the forces to do so. But if these forces are wasted, then no matter how many people you send, on the one hand, crowds will attack us, and on the other hand, in some areas, illiterate commanders will also drive people into trenches. Fortunately, this is only happening in some directions. And where there is planning and organization, where people's lives are saved and where they report on the number of enemies destroyed, there is a result. Ukraine has the commanders who can change the course of the war and win the victory. Ukraine has fighters who can win the war. Our resources are inferior to the enemy's, in terms of the number of weapons and ammunition. But they are sufficient to destroy these small assault groups that are crawling. We have the forces to do this. That is why today, more than ever, I am confident that our democratic society is able to create such pressure on the government that the authorities will start making changes, not this empty talk at press conferences. I am confident that we can achieve this, and that the government can be pushed to make the right decisions. And I am confident in our victory. Thank you for the broadcast. Glory to Ukraine!
