Zaluzhnyi spoke about the occupiers’ tactics: they are trying to take break and prevent Ukrainian troops from regrouping

As of now, the russian army is trying with all its might to "pause" the war in Ukraine. For this, the invaders fire on the civilian population and stretch the front line to wear down the armed forces, but these methods do not solve their main strategic problem.

Rubryka writes about this with reference to the words of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, in an interview for The Economist.

"They wanted to take Kyiv. Militarily this was the right decision—the easiest way to achieve their goal. I would have done the same. I know Gerasimov [the head of russia's armed forces] well (not personally, of course). There was no way out for him. He concentrated on Donbas to preserve whatever resources he had left. As of today, the situation in Donbas is not easy. But strategically, it is a no-win situation for the russian army," he said.

According to Zaluzhnyi, russia is now most likely looking for ways to stop hostilities and get a pause by any means: shelling civilians, leaving women and children to freeze to death.

He believes: "They need it for one simple purpose: they need time to gather resources and create new capacity so that they can continue to achieve their goals."

At the same time, according to him, the occupiers are working on other tasks simultaneously — they are doing everything possible to prevent the Ukrainian Armed Forces from regrouping and striking.

Zaluzhnyi added: "That's why you see fighting along the 1,500-kilometer front line. Somewhere more intense, somewhere less intense, but they are tying up our troops to prevent them from regrouping. The fact that they are fighting stubbornly now is, of course, very bad. But this is not a solution to a strategic problem. It simply exhausts the Armed Forces of Ukraine."