Petro Poroshenko, in the final interview with Svitlana Orlovskaya on the Pryamiy TV channel, summed up the results of the year and told what must be done immediately for the front.
“The year was actually very difficult. The country has gone through incredible trials, but this is no reason not to believe in victory or fall into pessimism. A nation that does not believe in victory will lose. A nation and a people can win a war when they are optimistic. We have reason for optimism. You can rip your hair out that the counteroffensive failed – but you can claim: we saved the state, we stopped a very powerful Russian onslaught, we didn’t let it move forward and destroy us. Moreover, the Russians have no success in 2023. And we cleared the waters of the Black Sea from the carriers of the Russian Calibers and “Killjoys”, including with the use of the latest technologies, drones, EWs and other things,” Poroshenko recalled.
He also noted that after the full-scale invasion, there was a threat of a Russian landing force in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Ochakiv. “Today, there is no question of this, the Russians are rebasing their fleet from our occupied Sevastopol to Novorossiysk,” the fifth President states.
“Of course, we expected and expect a lot of help from our partners, but we need to start communicating with partners with words of thanks. Funds of taxpayers of the entire democratic world go to Ukraine. These funds are used to purchase ammunition, weapons, artillery, tanks, and anti-aircraft missiles. And now we will receive the air force. I want to emphasize that it is not only F16. During my stay in Sweden, I had a meeting with the prime minister, all members of the government, and the international affairs committee. And the decision to provide Ukraine with Swedish fighter jets has been made. Ukrainian pilots are being trained. I am sure that this will happen now in 2024,” Petro Poroshenko said.
“Of course, it’s good that we survived in 2023. But I want to talk now about the year 2024, about what we should do, what we will definitely do and what results we should get. First: we have to make and equip fortifications. Moreover, I know how to arrange them, how much time it takes, how much money it takes, because we arranged it in 2014-2015 in three months. Each head of the Regional State Administration had his own section of the front, where he had to arrange and was personally responsible. The military drew lines and echelons for us on the map in two days. It was not only about concrete structures, not only about inconspicuous or anti-tank obstacles, trenches. Where the fortifications were built, and now, after 9.5, we held the defense. These are Avdiivka and Maryinka, Chasiv Yar, and others. The fortifications have not yet been built, because they allegedly believed that it could break the spirit of the counteroffensive,” Poroshenko said.
“Second: these are powerful, densely arranged minefields. Fortifications plus mines are able to stop any enemy. Surovikin’s lines were built in 2-3 months. The third position is the EW tools and radio-technical intelligence. The fourth position is drones, because the world has not known examples of modern war where drones would play such a huge role,” says Poroshenko.
“All these positions depend on us. We cannot refer to our partners, that our partners did not give us concrete, or that our partners did not give us mines, that we are not capable of making FPV drones ourselves. I have already put them into production. Are we not capable of making electronic warfare? We have invested one hundred and fifty million hryvnias in research and development, and have already completed official tests at the General Staff of the super-cool EW tool. I won’t tell you its name now, but it is already in combat use, lands Orlan, lands Zala, lands Supercam and protecting against Lancets,” Poroshenko said.
“When we do this, our homework, then we will ask our partners to speed up the F16 or other fighters, because this is for air dominance. Give long-range missiles, give artillery shells, because without that, nothing will happen,” Poroshenko believes.