Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and current Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK Valeriy Zaluzhnyy stated that Ukraine is technologically lagging behind Russia in war. Speaking at a defense forum, Zaluzhnyy frankly admitted: “The enemy has already overtaken us and we are lagging behind – and we need to talk about this honestly.”.
Although the diplomat did not specify in which areas the loss is being made, it is clear that he is referring to unmanned systems. In recent months, Russia has made significant progress in the development and mass production of drones, while Ukraine finds it difficult to maintain the continuous generation and scaling of innovations even in areas where it previously outpaced the aggressor.
Zaluzhny noted that despite the existing technological advances, they are "rather limited, sectoral in nature" and unable to cover the full range of needs necessary to implement a survival strategy. At the same time, Ukraine remains critically dependent on external assistance, both financial and technical.
The ambassador also pointed to other problems: a shortage of human resources and a critical state of the economy. In such conditions, Russia, he said, is waging a war of attrition, and Kyiv should build a response at this level - by undermining the economy and social stability of the Russian Federation, in order to prevent it from developing science and technology, as well as to provoke disintegration processes.
Zaluzhny did not specify what exactly should be the tools of such pressure, but emphasized that the focus should be on high-tech solutions.
Another thesis of the former commander-in-chief attracted special attention. Zaluzhny stated that Ukraine's goal is to force the Russian Federation to abandon the continuation of the war and agree to a cessation of hostilities "on our terms." However, he also noted that a return to the 1991 or even 2022 borders currently looks unrealistic, which in fact means a revision of Kyiv's initial goals in the war.
His speech sparked a wide-ranging debate, including whether it was worth publicly acknowledging the technological backwardness and the impossibility of liberating all occupied territories. Nevertheless, Zaluzhny's statements mark a shift in the strategic thinking of the Ukrainian authorities, from offensive optimism to survival pragmatism.
