Presidential Office advisor: Ukrainian military preparing new surprises for Russia

Report News Agency presents an interview with Pavlo Palisa, advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine.

- The news of recent days is that the US suspended military aid to Ukraine. However, later they said that it resumed. But such news appears not for the first time. Will Ukraine be able to continue the war alone if aid stops?

- Of course, Ukraine considers such risks and prepares for such things. We count on the support of partners and allies. This is very important for us. But even if at some point a certain type of aid is stopped, we have a plan "B," and we will continue the fight anyway.

- The Ukrainian side has disseminated information about Russia's losses. According to this data, the Russian side has lost more than 1 million military personnel. How does this affect Russia's combat capability? What can you say about the losses of the Ukrainian army?

- Russia's losses have exceeded one million military personnel. Despite enormous losses, they stubbornly try to implement their strategy of aggression against Ukraine. Regarding Ukraine's losses, they are incomparably smaller. The life of each soldier is certainly precious. Everyone should remember that each soldier's death is someone's shattered world. And any loss is very costly. In my opinion, those people who are now defending our country with weapons probably deserve most of all to live in it - in the state with the values they are fighting for. Of course, our losses are incomparably less than Russian ones; the Russians have lost 1 million citizens who could have peacefully worked in the economy. Unfortunately, they may have a lot of able-bodied population that can replace them.

- In which direction of the front are the Russian troops' losses the greatest? Is there statistics on losses by individual periods and directions?

- We must understand that the full-scale invasion is already in its fourth year, where the Russians are trying to move forward despite heavy losses. The Russians suffered heavy losses in the Kursk region. During a certain period, they suffered heavy losses in the Bakhmut direction, in the Pokrovsk direction. And now too.

- News has appeared about the forced deployment of migrants in Russia to the front. Does Ukrainian intelligence have more detailed information about such cases?

- We often encounter cases where citizens from Asian, African, and Latin American countries fight on the side of the Russian Federation. Very often they are captured, and that's where we get confirming information. In addition, we all understand the attitude of the Russian Federation towards migrants within the state. We often hear about this. Migrants in Russia are one of the most vulnerable segments of the population. Therefore, it is easier to influence them through administrative pressure, as well as fabrication of criminal cases, with a clear choice between joining the Armed Forces or going to prison.

-The German foreign minister, during a visit to Kyiv, announced the creation of joint defense enterprises with Ukraine. How will this affect the course of the war?

- In fact, we are creating joint ventures in the defense-industrial complex not only with Germany but also with other partner countries that have helped us since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. Germany is one of them and is one of the leaders in the volume of aid provided to Ukraine. They are interested in our defense-industrial complex, interested in our ideas, technologies. We cooperate with many partners in the field of air defense weapons, armored vehicles, and certainly unmanned aerial systems. The Ukrainian defense industry has become interesting for European partners and the US, primarily because of the experience gained and the ability to test technologies in real combat conditions. We are ready to share our experience with partner countries, jointly produce weapons, and this will certainly help us in our struggle.

- The foreign minister of Ukraine recently stated that the country provides 40% of the needs of the military industry through its production...

- Almost 50% of everything Ukraine needs for the war, we produce within the country. By ourselves, together with partner countries, through joint production, joint ventures. And we are ready to further increase these volumes. I am confident that in the near future Ukraine will definitely surprise the world more than once. Of course, we are working on protecting airspace, on complexes of various ranges, and various specific operations against different targets. All this is being done to guarantee the security of our territory, our airspace from ballistic missiles, from various types of cruise missiles, as well as from Shahed-type drones. We already have many technological solutions that are in the final stages, and in the near future we will see them in operation. There are also solutions that have successfully passed combat testing and were used to perform real tasks in conditions of the enemy's cunning plans. We are making significant efforts in developing our own anti-aircraft missile systems, working on effective solutions to shoot down ballistic missiles, as well as on an effective and inexpensive way to destroy Shaheds.

- Russia noted that Ukraine attacked Donetsk and Luhansk with British Storm Shadow missiles. How can you comment on this?

- I would like to say that all targets against which Ukraine uses high-precision weapons provided by partners are used in accordance with the rules agreed with these countries, and strikes with them were carried out exclusively against legitimate military targets. I want to note that our strikes with high-precision weapons are very noticeable for the Russian military. I am sure they are painful. I am confident we will continue to use them.

- Ukraine has put Russia in a difficult position with Operation Spiderweb. Is the Ukrainian side preparing new surprises for Russian troops?

- Operation Spiderweb demonstrated Ukraine's ability to act asymmetrically, at strategic depth, and to deliver very sensitive strikes. Yes, I am confident we will see similar things in the future. Definitely.

- At what stage are the ceasefire negotiations? Have the Istanbul negotiations reached a deadlock? If yes, for what reason?

- Let me try to explain the chronology now. Ukraine is still ready to move forward with the plan agreed with the United States in Saudi Arabia for an unconditional ceasefire. That is, a ceasefire without preconditions in order to discuss further steps towards a just and sustainable peace. At the last round of negotiations in Istanbul (June 2), everything essentially came down to the humanitarian track, which is certainly also very important for us. We exchanged prisoners of war, which is very important for us. We exchanged the bodies of fallen soldiers. During this exchange, during the DNA examination, it turned out that the Russian side, among the bodies of our soldiers, also transferred to us presumably the bodies of their citizens, their soldiers. Therefore, all issues related to identification require us to approach these things more carefully, and this will require more time. We held negotiations with the aim of returning our Ukrainian children abducted by Russians, as well as civilians. This is also a very important aspect. Unfortunately, we did not agree with the Russians on a ceasefire. The Russians came to Istanbul with their conditions, which rather resemble a declaration of capitulation. Russia is not in a position now where it can dictate such conditions. This is related, in my opinion, primarily to the unwillingness of the Russian side to conduct truly effective and substantive negotiations regarding a ceasefire. I would like to emphasize that Ukraine is ready to continue negotiations on any platform, in any format, if these negotiations lead to real results.