During his address to the US Congress, Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented US Vice President Senate Speaker Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a Ukrainian flag signed by soldiers on the front line in Bakhmout in the east of the country the country. At the Capitol in Washington on December 21, 2022. JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP
As so often in war, nothing went as planned. When Vladimir Putin announced “a special military operation” to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine in a televised address on February 24 at dawn and called on Ukrainian soldiers to “lay down their arms” immediately, it was probably inconceivable that the master of the Kremlin will become, almost a year later as 2022 draws to a close.
In theory, the strategists of the major military powers know that war is always unpredictable; but they seem to forget it once they are the first to be affected. Afghanistan was the most striking example of the unpredictability of wars at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, with guerrilla movements thirty years apart holding in check the two most powerful armies in the world, the Soviet army and then the American army. War rarely goes according to the plans of the aggressor, let alone the defender. The Ukraine conflict reminded not only Moscow’s strategists of this evidence, but also all those around the world who believed that Russia would easily conquer Ukraine.
This article is from “Bilan du Monde”, 2023. This special edition is available in kiosks or online on our shop’s website.
Kyiv wakes up at 5 a.m. on February 24 to the sound of explosions. As the first columns of Russian tanks cross the border crossings and the first missiles rain down on cities and military bases across the country, few give the Ukrainian authorities and their armed forces the slightest chance of survival.
humor and swear words
Kremlin propagandists in Moscow speak of a military victory within one to three days. Moscow calls Kyiv in the first hours of the attack to propose a halt to the military invasion in exchange for a surrender: Ukrainian officials respond with foul language or humor, a minister says he is ready to accept a Russian surrender immediately. On the battlefield, dress uniforms can be found in the first Russian tanks destroyed in ambushes, giving credence to the notion that Russian officers had to be ready to celebrate victory very quickly.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers War in Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the face of the resistance of the whole people
The resistance is organized around President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – a former comedian elected in 2019 who Moscow was apparently convinced would flee under pressure. Faced with the head of the National Security and Defense Council presenting him with various options to try to keep him alive and move the seat of power outside the capital, Mr. Zelenskyy becomes furious: “This is the last time I hear about it! ‘ he replies, according to presidential advisers quoted in The Washington Post’s excellent investigation Russia’s Gambling (August 2022) on the early days of the war. He replies to the American President Joe Biden, who offers to exfiltrate him: “I need ammunition, not a taxi! »
You have 68.1% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.