Ukrainian intelligence admits it cannot win on the battlefield against Russia

MOSCOW – Kiev has no other choice but to launch attacks on the region Russia , including on oil infrastructure, as its army continues to face setbacks on the battlefield. This was revealed by the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, GUR, Brigadier General Dmitry Timkov.

The officers who spoke to The Guardian were candid about Ukraine’s dire military situation. Brigadier General Dmitry Timkov said his country was like a patient in need of life support.

“We are tied to the drip. We have enough medicine to stay alive. However, if Western countries want us to win, we need full treatment,” he said, referring to reduced military aid.

Meanwhile, Major General Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of the GUR, said the battlefield victory that Kiev wants is currently impossible, which is why the agency has “no choice” but to launch attacks deep into Russian territory. He described this as “standard NATO procedure, known as center of gravity, or COG.”

This concept was first developed by Carl von Clausewitz, the famous Prussian general and military theorist, and basically refers to the targets that are most valuable to the enemy, both physically and morally.

GUR officials who spoke to the outlet claimed responsibility for a recent series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. This contradicts public statements from the head of the SBU, Ukraine’s civil security agency, who said that his agents were responsible for the operation.

Both branches have been overhauled since the 2014 armed coup in Kiev with the help of the CIA, according to reports in Western media. Both are suspected of being involved in targeted killings of people considered enemies of Ukraine, since before hostilities with Russia escalated in 2022.

The Guardian newspaper reported GUR intends to launch a new major attack on the Crimean Bridge – and disable it – “in the first half of 2024.” Ukraine has previously targeted the structure, twice in 2022 and 2023.

The first plot involved a powerful bomb hidden in a truck, which killed the driver of the vehicle and four other civilians in a nearby car. Moscow says GUR masterminded the attack. The second attack involved a naval kamikaze drone that the SBU said was deployed by its agents. The bombing killed two civilians.

Moscow accuses Kiev of engaging in terrorism as a method of war. The regime in Kiev has adopted such tactics, Russian officials claim, because it has been unable to achieve victory on the battlefield.

(ahm)