The Ukrainian people are “confident” that whoever becomes the new British Prime Minister, the UK will continue to “fully support” their fight against Russia, according to a Ukrainian defence chief.
Deputy Defence Minister Volodymyr Havrylov told GB News he was “very impressed by the reaction of the UK” to the Russian invasion of his country.
Major General Havrylov said he was particularly grateful for all the military support Ukraine had received from Britain and other Western nations and called for more advanced weapons systems, which he said were making a huge difference in halting Russian advances.
The defence chief said Ukraine was now in a new phase of the war, where having stopped Russia’s attempt to gain full control of his country, Moscow was now trying to consolidate its position in eastern and southern Ukraine.
The Major General said Ukrainian forces had stopped further Russian gains for the time being and was now looking at launching a counter-offensive to take back control of some of the territory lost to Putin’s forces.
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But he said any future successes hang on the West urgently supplying many more advanced weapons to Ukraine.
He said: “We’ve started to receive very important modern technologies, modern weapons like long-range high-precision systems that give us very critical capability in this war. It gives us a technological advantage.
“And given the motivation of our troops. Given the creativity of our commanders, together with technologies we receive from the West, I have no doubt we will crush this old-fashioned Russian army, with their old Soviet-type weapons.
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“They have no chance in terms of technologies, they are frozen and unable to receive new technologies due to embargoes and sanctions.
“They are not capable of producing something more than they have now. That's why for us it's very important to continue receiving advanced weapons from the West, which give us inevitable advantage in this war.”
The Deputy Defence Minister is visiting the UK as the Conservative Party continues to whittle down the candidates to become the new UK Prime Minister.
He said the Ukrainian people would be forever grateful for the leadership Boris Johnson had shown on the world stage, as he helped rally international support to help Ukraine.
But he told GB News he was confident that help from the UK would continue, thanks to widespread support across all political parties and from the British public.
Ukrainian servicemen stand near a military truck
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“A month ago, I visited some small villages and towns in middle England and I saw Ukrainian flags hanging from some buildings.” He said.
“People here are very touched emotionally with what is going on in Ukraine.
“It doesn't matter who is in charge, people will ask, what are you going to do to support Ukraine?
“And we feel that energy every day from ordinary people, from political parties and different organisations. So I'm very impressed with the reaction of the UK.
“I think that inevitably, all political leaders here will be encouraged by the people, by the population, by the society to continue assisting Ukraine in stopping Russia.”
As the conflict in Ukraine becomes a longer-term war of attrition, Major GeneralHavrylov said there was no way his countrymen and women would ever agree to strike a deal with Moscow, if it meant handing over Ukrainian land.
“This war is about the existence of Ukraine. And everybody in Ukraine understands it now, after eight years of war with Russia.
“Civil society is key to making any decision about what to do, whether we make a deal with Russia.
“Everybody at the top of the political spectrum in Ukraine, they understand that the final word in this war is with civil society.
“Seriously, society will never accept any kind of deal related to the loss of our territories. So I am confident that there will be no deal with Russia.”