This war is not going to end near, and there is a series of wars ahead

Pravda.Ru Special Correspondent Daria Aslamova talked to a military man serving in the zone of the special operation. The man known as Batya Kharkovsky (can be translated as Father from Kharkiv) spoke about the situation in the zone of the special military operation, circumstances that do not let Russia win a quick victory, when the hostilities are going to end and what mistakes were made at the beginning of the special operation.

Photo: Pravda.Ru

"You said: "It's all clear about the situation on the front, but the situation about the country (Russua - ed.) is not clear enough. What did not mean?"

"Everything is clear with the war. We will win, no matter the cost. The war went a little differently than planned: there are serious flaws in upper headquarters in terms of 

• military planning,
• supplies and logistics,
• shell shortages,
• the quality of training of the mobilised.

"However, all these problems have been overcome. I am concerned about the general state of the spirit of the population in Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, moral and ethical standards have changed dramatically.

"It is a person who wins a war, not weapon. During the Great Patriotic War, Germany had technical superiority at first, but one did not have to motivate the Soviet person. People knew what they were fighting for, they were morally and spiritually motivated.

"The TikTok generation that has no life values can not win the war. People do not understand the aims, the tasks, or the nature of this war. If you are a great writer, write something good about your people and your country. If you are a great director, make a good film about your people, about your country. People need to feel inspired. Write high-quality music with good lyrics so that it echoes in people's souls. 

"A lot needs to be changed. During the Soviet years, there were pioneer camps and the Komsomol youth organisation. Then it all went downhill. I have a lot of questions not only to the Ministry of Defence, but also to Ministries of Education and Culture.

"War attracts both pluses and minuses. Someone wants to fight and sacrifice themselves here, but others come here to make money. Yet, it all gets revealed in a week, and you can see it at once. 

"Why do you think it is taking so long?" 

“As a military man, I won’t say anything on the subject. I have no right to criticise senior command, not even my colleagues. We as a country - from president to soldier - we are all in one trench. At war time, they don't criticise - everyone minds their own business instead.

"However, the whole country can see that there were serious mistakes made in planning at the initial stage. I think that certain responsible officials did a very poor job and provided inaccurate data to the higher command for analytical work."

"Do you think it was the intelligence?"

"I think so. It appears that they assumed from the start that the Russian troops would enter regions triumphantly. However, they disregarded qualitative changes in people's minds. Eight years of brainwashing have not been wasted. Traditionally, they tried to negotiate with elites. I think that in Zaporozhye and Kherson regions we managed to come to an agreement with elites, and they simply surrendered the territories there, but they did not do it in the Kharkiv region. Everything was wrong from the very beginning with the storming of Kharkiv, hence all these casualties. This is a fortified city. Did you want to take Kharkiv in seconds? Are you out of your mind?"

"They thought that Kharkiv was a Russian city where everyone was waiting for us with open arms."

"Kharkiv was a Russian city in 2014, when we staged an uprising. Why didn't they bring me five trucks of weapons in 2014, as I requested? We would have resolved this issue in 2014. All people rose, 70 percent of the police were on our side. Many violent people like me left to fight, and everyone who tried to swindle was physically destroyed. We will liberate Kharkiv anyway, we will investigate these crimes. We will find everyone who was killing our countrymen during the Russian Spring uprising and we will definitely take revenge.

"This war will last for long, and not only this war that we now have. I do not see the end of this war yet. There is a long series of wars ahead of us. We are entering a very bad era, I say this as a history teacher. Moscow, our Mother Russia, will win the war. My only concern is which country we will return to after the war."