"It's not about morality": a soldier explained why Ukraine cannot violate Western bans on weapons
Date: 2024-09-05 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Ukraine cannot violate restrictions imposed by Western countries on the use of weapons, since there is a risk of losing aid. Therefore, it is necessary to develop its own defense industry, said Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman and political scientist Kirill Sazonov.
"They (Western countries, - ed.) could have not left us without help, shells in the winter, when we held some directions, and during the storming of Avdiivka they could have given us more weapons. This would have saved many lives. They could have done a lot, but they did not do a lot. And now they are still hesitating whether to allow us to hit Russian air bases with their weapons. Therefore, as a military man, I have made the following conclusion for myself. Allies are good, partners are good, but everyone has their own interests. As a military man, I can trust and rely only on Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. These are those we can count on 100%," he added in an interview with Channel 24.
The military man added that now there is a need for more shells, mines, drones, bombs, missiles, air defense. But this requires money.
"Therefore, I believe that right now the state should do everything for Ukrainian business: minimum taxes, inspections, pressure and administration; reduction of tariffs for railway transportation and something else. Because we can only count on our weapons, our people, our business and our state. The rest may or may not exist at any moment. The rest is unreliable. The state can only count on its army. And not on guarantees on paper, as we saw in the Budapest Memorandum. The army can count on its people, its state. Everything else is optional, maybe, maybe not. I have come to this conclusion: I no longer trust anyone except Ukrainians and Ukraine," he explained his opinion.
Sazonov also commented on the West's restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine. He explained why the conditions put forward by Western countries cannot be violated.
"It's not about some kind of morality. It's not about us not being like Putin. We are currently fighting with weapons that require repairs and constant supplies. We were not given a hammer, a spear or a sword with which we can fight. Rockets, shells and mines - we constantly receive this assistance. As soon as we violate the conditions we agreed to, we may no longer receive these supplies. Maybe our partners will agree with this, and maybe they won't. We cannot afford to take risks, because they can cut off supplies of all rockets and shells. Therefore, unfortunately, it's not about conscience and decency, but about the fact that we are dependent and must fulfill our obligations," the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier noted.
Sazonov added that this will continue until Ukraine has a sufficient number of its own weapons. This should have been the focus several decades ago.
"We have a drone missile "Palyanytsia", we have domestically produced drones, we have very good explosives and "Zazhigalka", which we use. It was our tactical unit "Grom" in the 41st brigade that developed and uses them. We share with our neighbors, with our brothers. Let's remember how the Ukrainians, under the leadership of the SBU, developed the sea drone "Malyuk", which struck the Black Sea Fleet. Our weapons, our production - this is our strength. It seems to me that 30 years ago we should have relied on this. But no one expected such a big war in 2022. Now we are paying for it, learning all over again," the serviceman summed up.
