Ukrainian commander-in-chief spills the beans Syrskyj: "The enemy has more of everything, but we can win"
In an interview, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyj talks about Russia's progress - and how Ukraine intends to defend itself.
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- Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyj has given his first interview to foreign journalists.
- Syrskyj estimates that Russia has doubled its own resources in terms of war material and that there are five times as many soldiers as at the beginning of the war of aggression.
- Unmanned drones are an effective weapon for air defense.
- A legion of Ukrainians living abroad is to be set up in Poland.
General Oleksandr Syrskyj took over the post of commander-in-chief from Valery Salushnyj in February 2024. President Zelensky had promoted Syrsky after the general had successfully led the defense of Kiev at the beginning of the Russian war of aggression.
The new commander-in-chief is regarded as a talented and disciplined general who often goes to the front. He now met journalists from the BritishGuardianfor an interview at an undisclosed location.
"Russia has greater resources"
After two and a half years of war, Syrskyi has to acknowledge that Russia is better equipped than Ukraine. The Russians were only able to increase the number of soldiers from 100,000 in 2022 to 520,000 in 2024. The figures on the Ukrainian side are not known.
According to Syrskyj, the differences in military equipment are even more significant. For example, Russia has doubled the number of tanks, artillery and armored vehicles in the last two and a half years. "In this respect, Russia has a major advantage," Syrskyj notes.
The supply of new war material is more difficult for the Ukrainians, which is why the conquest of cities such as Avdiivka could not be prevented. For Syrskyj, however, this was only a small loss for Ukraine, as Russia could only advance with difficulty.
"The attacker has not made any significant progress," Syrskyj continues. On a 3,700 km long front, "only" around 977 km of active fighting took place.
Russia had more losses
Russia's successes have also resulted in many casualties. According to the commander-in-chief, these were "three times as high" as those of Ukraine. In February of this year, President Zelenskyi put the figure at 31,000. Syrskyi does not want to give any new figures, "Moscow could benefit from this".
Syrskyj sees positive developments in air defense. In addition to the F-16 fighter jets that are soon to be delivered by the allied countries, Ukraine has circumvented Russia's strong defenses with unmanned drones. This also made it possible to attack critical military locations in Russia.
New legion in Poland
Now that compulsory military service has been reduced from 27 to 25, Oleksandr Syrskyj hopes that more resources will be called up. Without mobilization, he cannot build up reserves and brigades.
He also encourages Ukrainians living abroad to stand up for their country. They would be trained before being deployed to the front. To this end, a project in neighboring Poland is gaining momentum, where a legion is to be set up with Ukrainians from abroad.
