Fedorov: Ukraine faces “hell,” but Kyiv will continue strikes on Russia

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said that Ukraine faces difficult times due to Russia’s retaliatory strikes, but that Kyiv intends to continue and intensify its attacks on Russian territory.

He made the remarks in an interview with CBS.

According to Fedorov, Russia will continue an active campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, exploiting Ukraine’s shortage of anti-ballistic missiles. The Russian side’s goal, as he described it, is to completely destroy the Ukrainian economy by depriving the country of resources to finance the war.

“I think Russia will continue. They understand the deficit of our anti-ballistic missiles, so they will continue the energy campaign actively. They will try to completely destroy our economy so that we don’t have enough resources to finance the war — that is part of their strategy,” Fedorov said.

Responding to a question about Ukraine’s own actions, Fedorov outlined the key directions of Kyiv’s strategy. He said it is necessary to respond quickly to challenges, find new ways to counter ballistic missiles and jet-powered Shaheds, and learn to shoot down the carriers of glide bombs.

In addition, the former defense minister identified offensive objectives: to continue the so-called middle-strike campaign using medium-range drones, to isolate Russian regions, to continue deep-strike missions, to begin producing large quantities of cheap missiles for strikes on Russia, and to continue the ballistic campaign.

Speaking about prospects for ending the war, Fedorov outlined his vision of a ceasefire scenario. He said Russian authorities will stop at the moment they realize their own existence is under threat — without having gained a strategic advantage and without having achieved any of their strategic goals.

“At the moment when Putin, or whoever is no longer Putin, when the Russian authorities understand that the question is one of their own existence, they will stop, having gained no strategic advantage, having achieved none of their strategic goals. Then there will be a ceasefire, and then peace in Ukraine. That is what awaits us. But before that, of course, hell awaits us, difficult times, many challenges,” Fedorov said.