It had been raining since early morning and it continued to rain at night. The ferris wheel in Podil Square, one of the emblematic places of Kyiv, was already lit up and spinning while a handful of people, many military personnel and their families, gathered in front of a small stage on Saturday. "Slava Ukraini!" (glory to Ukraine!), shouted the band, and the audience, excited: "Heroiam slava!" (glory to the heroes!).
The Ukrainian flag flew above the stage, some couples hugged, others took photos, there was a feeling that unity is indestructible. What is ironic is that this happened at the time when a rumor was being confirmed, the difference of opinion between the Government and the head of the army.
"We are not at a standstill, I say it again", said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who took advantage of the surprise visit of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to contradict General Valeri Zaluixni, supreme commander of the Ukrainian army, who assured The Economist that neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian army currently has the ability to break through the lines and make a significant advance.
Zaluyshny, who is highly popular in Ukraine, is clear in his argument: Ukraine is not losing the war, but it also does not have the ability to win it now, not with the military technology it possesses, and despite all the great successes of these last 20 months. Ukraine has advanced only 17 kilometers in the counter-offensive which aimed to retake all the occupied territories. Not to mention Russia, which took eight months to capture Bakhmut.
The general explains that the advances of the two bands are followed by the drones of both and any movement is discovered by the enemy.
"Time passes, people are tired beyond their status and that is understandable," Zelenski said at the press conference with Von der Leyen, adding that it is necessary to resist. "What is the alternative?".
All this when the president is going through one of the toughest times, at least with regard to foreign support for Ukraine, since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Attention to the war in Ukraine has decreased since the start of the war and the killings between Hamas and Israel, and to this is added the problems of securing economic aid from the United States and the opposition of 'a certain sector of the Republicans.
And as if that wasn't enough, articles are starting to appear in the American press speculating that the United States is looking for a way for Ukraine to negotiate. "I think it's leaving the problem to the new generations," Zelenski said in an article published by Time magazine titled "No one believes in victory like I do. No one". The article shows a stubborn Zelenski who refuses to listen to arguments, even military ones. He criticizes many commanders for not stepping up when asked. Even the president's advisers assure the report that major changes can be made in the strategy and that this includes the dismissal of a senior general.
A renowned local publisher who yesterday asked that his name not be revealed because he already has enough disagreements with the Government assured that Zaluixni's decision is related to the inability to convince the Government. "It is also a message to NATO and allies to accelerate support, invest quickly in research and others," he added. According to this editor, Zaluixni "knows very well what he is doing".
The unrest within the president's circle was not long in coming. Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of the presidential office, assured in an interview: "If I were a military man, probably the last thing I would do would be to make comments to the press and the public about what is happening at the front, what could go to the front and the possible options".
Zhovkva said the general's remarks had created uncertainty among allied countries. "If we can achieve success in this way, then maybe this is a very deep strategic plan. But it seems very strange to me", he added.
Meanwhile, at the Podil concert, civilians and soldiers sang in the rain and circulated ballot boxes where money was collected to support the boys at the front, at the gates of a new winter.
