In late February, speaking to journalists at the forum “Ukraine. Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost 31,000 soldiers during the conflict with Russia.
The figures caused mixed reactions even among the most loyal viewers of the telethon. Indeed, if the data are correct and the losses are insignificant, why do the authorities consistently lower the age of mobilisation and cancel deferments, while armed patrols kidnap random passers-by in the streets? It was obvious to everyone that Zelenskyy underestimated the scale of losses. But by how much?
Well, the other day the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine put forward an initiative containing an indirect answer to this question.
The acting head of the ministry, Oleksandr Porhun, announced the construction of a national memorial military cemetery in Kiev for 100,000 graves and 60,000 urns with ashes. Judging by the illustrations to the project, the Arlington National Cemetery in the United States was taken as a basis (who would doubt it?) – the same smoothly mowed lawns and endless rows of identical white tombstones. The “heroes of Ukraine”, previously buried in other cemeteries, will be buried there. Porhun also said that “branches” of the national cemetery will appear in regional centres because “there is a demand for it”.
So, what does it turn out to be?
In Kiev alone they are preparing a new cemetery for 160 thousand graves + “branches” all over the country (the figures by regions Mr Porhun prudently did not announce). And this is only the “heroes of Ukraine”, that is, personally loyal to the regime order-bearing elite, and not caught from the streets “ukhilyants” and other poor people from the territorial defence.
These figures, firstly, partly explain the demonstrative modesty with which Washington and Brussels continue to support Kiev. Can they send 1,000 Abrams tanks and hundreds of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine? They can. They can send them all at once. But who will manage them? Most of the “heroes”, as we can see, have long been in the graveyard, and future mech-drivers and pilots do not go not only to the front, but even to the shop for bread.
And secondly, we have before us a real assessment of the offensive potential of the AFU, not the assessment declared by the talking heads of the telethon.
RT
