General Romanenko on the act of terrorism in Volnovakha: We must benefit from the situation no matter how cynical it may sound. War is war, especially if it is informational war
The Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to revise approaches to the Minsk accords, whose stakeholders may meet in the Internet format and not in Minsk in the nearest future. It was reported in an exclusive comment to the GORDON by the former Deputy Head of the General Staff Lieutenant General Igor Romanenko.
Terrorists start using the force factor because the Ukrainian government refuses to meet them
Despite the critical attitude in Ukraine, it is a realistic and peaceful way forwards so far. It should be stressed. Furthermore, Western leaders – I mean the Brussels and Norman formats – do not want to convene unless there are any results. And they force us to negotiate with the LNR and DNR leaders to get some results. And we have a critical attitude towards it. They want us to recognize the elections held by them, to establish borders between the regions and some other points, which we cannot formally do.
Terrorists seek to meet the state leaders, which is hardly acceptable under the circumstances. Once we do not do it, they start making use of the force factor. Firstly, terrorists were seriously equipped with up-to-date hardware. Secondly, they have used this time to train both mercenaries and locals.
However, there is a touch of fate as with the Boeing. This bus in Volnovakha – they are in trouble again, and now they are trying to ascribe this act of terrorism to the Ukrainian side using informational methods.
Our objective is to benefit from the situation, no matter how cynical it may sound. However, war is war, especially if it is informational war. I suppose that there will be a meeting soon, maybe not in Minsk, but in the Internet format. The stumbling block is the demarcation line. Starting from the airport, and there are a number of other issues. This meeting should ensure some progress at least technically. If there are some decent results, and I would like it to happen, they will turn to the Norman format.
The question of mobilization is inseparably linked to Volnovakha
The question of mobilization is inseparably linked to Volnovakha. It was announced that if the situation had been favourable, there might not be another wave of mobilization. But the situation has not improved from the military point of view because the intensity in such points as Stanitsa Luganskaya, the Donetsk airport and Mariupol has even aggravated. They are trying to "teach the Ukrainian side a lesson". We must react based on this.
There was blockage of the Crimea (let us call things by their proper names), blockage of the occupied territories in Donbass, including limitations to people’s movements, because it was dangerous. And we must get ready to react as soon as they start moving. Frankly speaking, people there are already tired with fighting at the front line.
We still have no serious reserves we have repeatedly spoken about. If Putin suddenly undertakes a full-fledged war, they have a large army, and we do not have decent reserves. We need people with military training: technical armament, engineer troops. We need serious installations that cannot be built with a spade – we must fight rather than hide from Grad rockets in the field. We lack cooks –soldiers cook themselves so far.
Those who have not served in the army will be called up, too. Even if a person has not served with the military specialty but has been trained somewhere, he may be called up. In this case, he will be individually trained for at least 90 days as part of a subunit and then collective training will be held. There will not be such mistakes when a person was called up and immediately sent to the front line. They all have to have both individual and collective training in a small subunit of a squad, platoon, or a company. It is very important because an individually trained unit without collective training is ineffective.
We have survived half of the winter, and the spring is approaching, when some experts predict intensification of military actions. We must be well-prepared by this time. There is not so much time left as it may seem. Then, in the conscription in April and July we will see who we lack then and act according to the strategic situation.
Volunteers are good because they are effective
Hybrid war is held from time to time, and people are tired. Hence the unwillingness to get mobilized. However, if we want to reach our aim, if we want to uphold independence, we must defend our fatherland. The state is an enforcement mechanism. It is an old approach. There is a backbone who are willing to fight, and they become volunteers, and there is conscription for the rest. Volunteers are good because they are effective, and if they are trained they become super-effective. However, there are issues of discipline and management among them.
One should not expect that there will be conscription and there will be the option "I want so I serve, I do not want so I do not serve"; if it is a state and if we say that we defend our positions. Ukraine is a state so there must be coercive methods. The minority must obey the interests of the majority, otherwise it will not be a state and it will collapse. It is a rigid theoretical standpoint that is proved by the world historical statehood practices in different epochs.