Chief of General Staff Colonel General Viktor Muzhenko
Kyiv Post: Chief of General Staff sparks outrage with remark Shyrokyne has ‘no military value’
The chief of Ukraine’s Army General Staff has left many baffled after declaring that the destroyed village of Shyrokyne “has no military value” – after soldiers held positions there for months that they said were key to defending the strategic city of Mariupol.
Army chief Viktor Muzhenko made the comments in an interview with the news portal ZN.UA on Aug. 30, saying the “(separatists’) winter offensive on this village was more a PR stunt than a military operation” and while Shyrokyne was known the whole world over, the besieged town “has no military value whatsoever.”
Muzhenko’s comments ignited a flurry of angry condemnations from activists and soldiers with experience in the war-torn village, which saw Ukraine’s volunteer battalions withdrawn in late July despite major protests against the move.
WNU Editor: This remark capsulizes why there is little support for the war in Ukraine, and why Ukraine President Poroshenko's poll numbers are in the basement.
WNU Editor,
ReplyDeleteSadly, the General is correct. The town has no tactical or strategic value. It was under Minsk II, supposed to be left unoccupied by both sides and sits in what was to be a buffer zone.
Azov staged an " invasion" of the empty town for the cameras, put it out on the web, so of course, the LPA sent fighters to push them out.
Now, after months of fighting, the only value Shirikino has is propaganda value.