(KYIV, UKRAINE) – The Kremlin faces growing alarm that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin may run out of funding for his invasion of Ukraine, according to Yuriy Sak, advisor to the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine. Mr Sak said that even economists with ties to the Kremlin are now warning of irreversible damage to the Russian economy.
Speaking to Times Radio’s Frontline programme, Mr Sak stated that “even if you listen to the sort of Russia leaning or Kremlin backed economists, they are beginning to talk about irreversible processes happening in Russian economy, processes that will lead to eventually collapse of Russian banking system, Russian whole industries.” He added that “it’s not a fast process but by and large the combination of sanctions that continue to restrict Russia’s ability to trade with the world Ukrainian deep strike drones taking together the cumulative effect of these efforts will result and are resulting in degrading Russian economic situation.”
Mr Sak emphasised that economic pressure represents the only viable path to ending the conflict. “From where we stand that’s the only way to end this war to make it impossible for Russia to prosecute it. If Russia doesn’t have money to pay for its soldiers, which it pays billions, they will not be able to fight it any longer and they will be more willing to negotiate in good faith.”
The advisor noted that Russian forces are now suffering casualties at a rate exceeding their recruitment capacity. “Right now, Russia is losing more people on the battlefield than they are able to recruit. Now that imbalance is also a factor that in a mid to long term signalizes that Russia will lose and they will have to agree to realistic scenario of negotiations not their request for Ukraine’s capitulation.”
Mr Sak employed an analogy from economic theory to illustrate Russia’s trajectory. “I always like to refer to this example which I think was used in the economic theory the effect of Titanic. Titanic was when that tragedy happened it was sinking for couple of hours and only 15 minutes in the end it went vertical and sank. So we believe that little by little we are chipping away at Russia’s economic resilience their stability.”
The Ukrainian official highlighted that Russian forces have proven incapable of achieving even minimal military objectives. “Look the front line is kind of still there’s nothing not much happening along the front line Russians are unable to achieve even their minimalistic military objectives all they’re capable of doing is dying en masse.” He referenced statements from Ukraine’s defence minister and president indicating that “if we reach the target of killing or removing from action 50,000 Russian soldiers a month, this will accelerate exponentially Russian ability to fight this war.”
Mr Sak expressed hope that by September or October, Russia would be “more agreeable to the realistic terms of the peace process.”
Regarding energy markets, Mr Sak acknowledged that the global situation has affected Ukraine. “We are seeing of course the immediate impact. The prices at the gas station have gone up for diesel, petrol and of course that impacts economy. We’re seeing inflation going up. We’re seeing prices going up for everything.” He noted that Ukraine has a “vested interest in somehow contributing to stability in the Gulf” and confirmed that discussions on this matter formed part of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s talks with counterparts in Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
The advisor also revealed expanding defence cooperation with Gulf states. “We were actually very happy to extend a helping hand and as you know more than 200 military experts traveled immediately to the Gulf to different countries to the Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain and other countries in the region and they are helping with their expertise and our anti drone systems to protect infrastructure in the Gulf.” Mr Sak described this as “a very interesting development” and noted that while Europe remains Ukraine’s close ally, “we probably are seeing this alliance extending to the Gulf as well which is important because of course the Gulf will continue to be key for the global economy.”
On the battlefield, Mr Sak disclosed details of a significant operation conducted entirely by unmanned systems. “It’s a fantastic operation which was from beginning to end planned by our unmanned systems forces and it was executed exclusively by robots. Everything from reconnaissance to assault to capturing the prisoners of war.” He cautioned that “for now it’s a one off. It’s not a systemwide capability that we have,” but confirmed that the overall strategy of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence is that “the war has to be fought by robots more than by people.”
Mr Sak announced that the ministry has established a new model called “drone assault brigades” which will combine “aerial drones, fighter bomber drones, reconnaissance drones, unmanned ground vehicles with for example machine guns and turrets on top of them.” He stated that “more and more we will be seeing how robots replace manpower on our side on the front lines and of course this will only make us stronger.”
Describing the current battlefield reality, Mr Sak said “there is a 15 kilometre wide kill zone along the front lines which is literally controlled by drones on both sides. That means that no human can enter either on foot or in an armoured personnel carrier or tank because the moment something appears in that kill zone and I will repeat it’s 15 kilometre wide. So it’s huge distance it gets immediately destroyed by a swarm of drones from either side.”
He added that robotic systems offer distinct advantages over human soldiers. “You only benefit because machines don’t get tired. Machines don’t need unless they’re destroyed don’t need a break, a lunch, sleep. So they can be on guard 24/7 and that’s our objective.” The Ukrainian government is now operating a programme specifically for ground robots used in assault operations, casualty evacuation, and supply delivery to front line positions.
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