Kyiv, 21 March 2014 – Former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ukrainian military and political leader, head of Ukrainian NGO Strength and Honor, Ihor Smeshko has presented his view of the reasons which lead to the current situation in Ukraine and its potential global political consequences.
“Over 20 years of having a political elite, we haven’t managed to develop a national idea that would unite the whole country. We have failed to demonstrate the advantages of democracy to the East and South. In fact, Ukraine so far hasn’t had full-fledged democracy, not even for a day”, said Mr. Smeshko. One of the reasons for this, according to Ihor Smeshko, was the mistakes made by the government in appointing some of the military officials.
Speaking about the external factors contributing to the current situation, former head of the Security Service said: “For years, Russia has been consistently following a hard and very professional policy: by no means should Ukraine be allowed to join Europe. If democracy gets close to Russia’s border, it will not be able to maintain its authoritarian regime.” Ihor Smeshko believes that by starting a conflict with Ukraine, Russia has made a big mistake and opened the Pandora’s box: “What will keep China from taking the same course of action towards Russia in 10 – 15 years to protect Chinese speaking population in Russia?”
Commenting on the Crimean issue, Mr. Smeshko emphasized that Russia has no chance of winning a military confrontation against Ukraine: “the Russian army is not capable of occupying such an area. Our army is unable to conduct an offensive operation, but have sufficient military potential for defense. We have 700,000 armed reserve. Furthermore, no one can win a partisan war at our territory. Russia’s might is primarily based on its strategic nuclear potential. Almost all of its key specialized mobile land forces have already been deployed to Crimea.”
Former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine says that “the NATO concept needs to be changed. The ancient adage ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’ is now pertinent as never before.” Mr. Smeshko also presented his vision of further steps to be taken by the Ukrainian government: “It should be a combination of three actions. First, the deployment of our troops in the east and south of the country. Second, intensified work of law enforcement and national security services, arrests of the fifth column representatives. Third, proper appointments in the regions.”
Ihor Semeshko is a Ukrainian military, political and public leader, head of Ukranian NGO Strength and Honor, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (4 September 2003 – 4 February 2005), Member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (September 2003 – February 2005), Lieutenant General (August 1998), Colonel General (2004), Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor (1992), military engineer.
