The five largest exporters of major arms in 2020–24 were the US (43 per
cent), France (9.6 per cent), Russia (7.8 per cent), China (5.9 per
cent), and Germany (5.6 per cent), together accounting for just under
three-quarters (72 per cent) of all arms exports.
Overall, European arms imports grew by 155%, fueled by fears ..
"For several days, almost a week, we have been observing almost a
doubling of the number of enemy attacks in all main directions (on the
frontline)," he said.
Ukraine's military chief says new Russian offensive has begun
KYIV,
April 9 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in
an interview published on Wednesday that Russia had launched a new
offensive on the northeast of the country, adding that a large increase
in assaults was already being observed.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had warned earlier that Russia was preparing an offensive on the two regions of Kharkiv and Sumy.
Moscow is close
to fully pushing Ukrainian forces out of their foothold in Kursk
region, which they held since last August and which lies over the border
from Sumy region.
Zelenskiy said on Monday that Ukrainian forces were also present in the adjacent Russian region of Belgorod.
The war,
the first year of which was marked by rapid Russian territorial gains
followed by Ukrainian counter-attacks, has since become far more of a
battlefield stalemate, with Moscow grinding out relatively small gains
by attacking with wave after wave of infantry squads.
". . .Ukraine had failed to find a way of prosecuting
manoeuvre warfare while “the enemy somehow manages to break through our
lines every month”, Krotevych complained.
“Syrskyi
is not trying to apply a high science and an art of war,” Krotevych
said, accusing him of having “just two functions: if the enemy is
attacking, you just throw more people in there.
And if the enemy is
overwhelming, withdraw the people and say that you’re concerned about
the lives of the people.”
Ukraine has been gradually losing territory throughout 2024 and 2025 as Russian forces first advanced from Avdiivka in the east towards Donbas, before Moscow’s main effort switched to eliminating the Kursk incursion.
Many observers have put Russia’s modest but
persistent success down to its greater personnel numbers and a pause in
US weapons shipments in the early part of 2024,
but Krotevych’s comments are notable because they try to shift the
focus on to Ukraine’s commanders and their direction of the war effort.
The
former soldier now intends to set up a private company, Strategic
Operational and Intelligence Agency (Soia), obtaining intelligence on
Russia, Belarus, North Korea and other countries unfriendly to Ukraine
and acting as an expert liaison with the west.
As
part of that work, Krotevych said he hoped to spend time in London,
though he stressed he was not aligned with Ukraine’s ambassador to the
UK, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, a predecessor to Syrskyi, who is considered a
potential future candidate for Ukraine’s presidency.
Krotevych
said he had no intention of entering politics himself. “I just want to
destabilise Russia so it could not make war again,” he said.
Ukraine’s general staff was approached for comment but did not respond prior to publication.
