Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who today—July 8 — is celebrating his 53rd birthday, has described Ukraine’s strikes on russian critical infrastructure and logistics as a temporary success that will backfire on the russian side with even greater force.
This is stated in Zaluzhnyi’s column for Interfax-Ukraine.
The former Chief of the General Staff stated that in the past, it was possible to achieve political objectives by accomplishing tactical goals or by temporarily disabling specific elements of logistics or critical infrastructure. He cited the initial phase of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Ukraine as an example.
However, he said, this approach is not suitable for modern warfare, where—due to scientific and technological progress—it is virtually impossible to carry out tactical missions on the ground.
"And such tangible and significant achievements in striking logistics routes and critical infrastructure are only a temporary success, which will inevitably, depending on the competence of the Russian military leadership, will come back to haunt us with an equal or greater impact,” Zaluzhnyi asserts.
He stated that this is a war of attrition—where behind every success or failure “lies a price that will always be exorbitantly high” relative to the actual capabilities to secure that success.
"And it is precisely this threshold of tolerance for that cost that is decisive for survival. Therefore, talking about achieving political goals, winning the war through tactical actions on the battlefield, or even through effective strikes against logistics and critical infrastructure—clearly goes beyond the bounds of common sense,” he continued.
Zaluzhnyi concluded that effective strikes against enemy logistics and infrastructure, as well as isolated tactical successes on the battlefield, should not “give rise to fantasies about a swift end to the war.”
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the latest russian attack—a strike on Kyiv on the night of July 7—resulted in one fatality, two injuries, and several fires in various districts of the capital. Russian troops attacked the city with ballistic missiles. And on the morning of July 8, drones likely attacked two major industrial facilities simultaneously in Nizhnekamsk, russia (Republic of Tatarstan)—the Nizhnekamskneftekhim petrochemical complex and the TANECO oil refinery.
Earlier, Zaluzhnyi urged people not to believe predictions about the end of the war.
Meanwhile, according to media reports, Zaluzhnyi was summoned to Kyiv in connection with preparations for the resignation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. However, during the meeting, government officials asked whether Zaluzhnyi would run for president if elections were held in the fall. He gave a clear answer: “Yes.”
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