Valeriy Zaluzhniy, the commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said the country must develop an array of unmanned weapons systems to reduce combatant losses amid a dispute with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over mobilization.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
In a commentary for CNN published on February 1, Zaluzhniy said Ukraine must “redesign” its battlefield operations around the latest technological developments, such as drones, which in turn will reduce dependence on “heavy material,” a possible reference to Western-supplied armaments.
“Perhaps the number one priority here is mastery of an entire arsenal of (relatively) cheap, modern and highly effective, unmanned vehicles and other technological means. The remote control of these assets means fewer soldiers in harm’s way, thus reducing the level of human losses,” he wrote.
Zaluzhniy’s commentary follows multiple news reports that have cited unnamed officials saying Zelenskiy is expected to dismiss him in the coming days or weeks. A conflict over mobilization plans is one of the sources of tension between the two.
Zaluzhniy is seeking hundreds of thousands of new recruits this year to strengthen Ukraine's forces, replace expected losses, and demobilize those who have served for years. Zelenskiy has resisted the request amid concern over public backlash.
In the meantime, Russia has been mobilizing a significant number of men, including convicts, through a combination of force and financial incentives. That has allowed Moscow to repeatedly attack Ukrainian positions despite suffering large losses.
“We must acknowledge the significant advantage enjoyed by the enemy in mobilizing human resources and how that compares with the inability of state institutions in Ukraine to improve the manpower levels of our armed forces without the use of unpopular measures,” he wrote.
Tensions between Zaluzhniy and Zelenskiy surfaced in November after the commander in chief published a commentary in The Economist, saying the war had entered a stalemate and only a technological breakthrough would allow Ukraine to achieve its goals of liberating occupied territory. Zelenskiy’s office was quick to reject that battlefield assessment.
Zaluzhniy said Ukraine could create a new domestic system of technological rearmament in five months. Further development of domestic weapons systems would reduce the dependence on U.S. military aid, which has become increasingly unreliable amid partisan disputes.
“We must contend with a reduction in military support from key allies, grappling with their own political tensions,” Zaluzhniy wrote.
Ukraine has been developing its own air and sea drone capabilities, using them to attack military targets inside Russia and on the Black Sea.