Former Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine: Situation at the front remains extremely tense

The situation at the front for the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains extremely difficult, former Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram. Maliar was dismissed from her position on September 18.

According to her, Kyiv's assistance is not enough as the Russian troops have much more weapons.

"If you look at it this way, the situation is extremely complicated. As of now, we are advancing slowly — a few hundred meters a day in the east and south, and sometimes the battles end without a change in positions. We are given help, but this is not enough. The world was not prepared for our war, there were no stockpiles prepared.

"We may either keep or lose our state as a result of the war. From the point of view of evolution, it should end with an access to new warfare technologies and new types of weapons. Regardless of who wins it.

"We started fighting with a large number of Soviet models at our disposal. Their era has ended and we have switched to NATO arms in a timely manner. The enemy has much more weapons, but we have reached some parity in the war due to the professionalism of our military and their motivation.

"A technological breakthrough is now required now in order to globally shift the course of the war and end it. In fact, this race is already beginning on both sides. War and its needs considerably accelerate technological processes. This heralds an end to this war in the foreseeable future," Maliar wrote on Telegram.

On September 14, Maliar said that the Ukrainian troops had occupied the village of Andriivka, south of Artemovsk (Bakhmut), but her statements were not true to fact. DPR's Governor Denis Pushilin said that Maliar's remarks on Andriivka were fake news as there were fierce battles in the area of the village. Maliar later explained her statement as a communication failure.

On September 18, the Ukrainian government fired all deputy defence ministers, including Hanna Maliar. Deputy ministers Vladimir Gavrilov, Rostislav Zamlinsky, Denis Sharapov, Andrei Shevchenko, Vitaly Deinega and Secretary of State Konstantin Vashchenko were also dismissed from their positions.