Kyiv promises Moscow a ‘flow of coffins’ if Russia attacks Ukraine
In the event of a full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Russia will receive a "flow of coffins", stated Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Serhiy Kryvonos in an interview with Obozrevatel news outlet.
"Mentally, it is not a problem for Russians to start a full-scale aggression against our country. But they understand that the enormous number of losses that their armed forces will suffer and the flow of coffins that will go to Russia," Kryvonos said.
Kryvonos explained that, during the 6.5 years of armed clashes in Donbas, the Ukrainian army has gained huge experience. "There are motivated servicemen with remarkable experience of warfare in the Ukrainian army," the deputy head of the National Security Council said.
Kryvonos compared the situation in the south-east of Ukraine with the Chechen war of 1994-1996. "What destabilized the situation in Russia then? The Chechen War. Hundreds, thousands of corpses of Russian soldiers, who were brought home, then shattered the situation considerably," he explained.
In January 2020, Kryvonos said that the Donbas could be taken back by force and stated that the Ukrainian army should be ready for it. However, Kyiv will be able to take such a step only after the weakening of Russian positions in the southeast.
In September, the deputy secretary of the National Security Council noted that Kyiv could not yet forcefully return Crimea, because Ukraine is not able to wage "war on two fronts" (on the peninsula and in the Donbas). Kryvonos said that Ukraine should focus on putting sanctions pressure on Moscow from Western countries to make Russia "lose its pants."
In the autumn, the head of Ukrainian Presidential Administration Andrii Yermak said that the war in the Donbas will stop before the end of the Volodymyr Zelensky’s term.