ESPRESO — broadcast
20261011 083000 UTC
496 transcript segments
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive.
Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:00] was full to the brim. We have one street, there, well,
[00:00:03] on Shevchenko Street, yes, well, there were five houses for sure
[00:00:07] up to the roof. And 75 in
[00:00:11] Afanasivka, well, of those, there were
[00:00:13] a number of 11 houses, it seems, in
[00:00:17] which people did not live, yes, that is,
[00:00:19] 60, one could say, 64 houses
[00:00:22] were these with people who were flooded.
[00:00:26] In total, there were 105 houses. 30 of them are
[00:00:29] Yuriv. Our village is in our old district, two settlements Yuriyivka and
[00:00:33] Afanasiyivka. This is a famous shot
[00:00:37] from 2023
[00:00:38] from above.
[00:00:42] This is what Afanasiyivka looked like during the maximum
[00:00:45] flood.
[00:00:48] Afanasiyivka became an island. Yes, yes. And all these
[00:00:51] houses that are located here, which you see in the coastal zone,
[00:00:55] they were all those that were all flooded
[00:00:58] all around, all around. The villages
[00:01:00] of Afanas.
[00:01:03] Fortunately, no one died in Afanasiyivka during the flood, says Vasyl
[00:01:07] Khumko. In difficult times, everyone helped each other,
[00:01:10] people with limited mobility and the
[00:01:12] elderly.
[00:01:16] We practically had one person
[00:01:20] like that,
[00:01:23] she was over 90 years old. This, this woman, she
[00:01:27] lives here on this street, and she was.
[00:01:31] In our Snihurivka hospital, there was such a reception point
[00:01:35] for these refugees, who were from the water, and she was there, well,
[00:01:38] she was there. A village is a village, it's not
[00:01:42] a city, we have many
[00:01:46] relatives here, well, this is a village, relatives, and they just went to their
[00:01:49] relatives, everyone had some relative who could accept them.
[00:01:53] прийнять,
[00:01:56] And what also saved them, explains the head, is that in 2020,
[00:02:00] everyone came to help, volunteers worked
[00:02:02] well, the military administration, the State Emergency Service, the National Police, and
[00:02:06] the military, who built pontoon crossings to evacuate people and
[00:02:10] animals from the island
[00:02:11] of Afanasiyivka.
[00:02:15] So people, people will survive, but the cattle, they are tethered,
[00:02:18] they want to eat. Farmers in Afanasiyivka reacted in time to the
[00:02:22] threat, who keep a cowshed on the shore
[00:02:25] of the lake. It's just that everything is still flooded, you see
[00:02:29] there. We have a farm, and hay, and a house, everything was
[00:02:33] flooded, well, this was like the beginning of the flood, so we already understood that this
[00:02:37] would be a disaster, we quickly moved
[00:02:40] with a tractor, loaded everything we needed for the cows, the milking machine, everything, because
[00:02:44] our farm is equipped according to European
[00:02:47] standards.
[00:02:50] The Krydener family of farmers took the authorities' warnings
[00:02:54] seriously, so they managed to save part of their farm
[00:02:57] and business. We went and looked at that side. Well, where the
[00:03:01] water level is higher, ours is lower, the higher level started to rise,
[00:03:04] to rise, and then we saw that it would soon reach our pond,
[00:03:07] there was a drop, where it was 2.5 m, and it instantly
[00:03:11] rushed in, in one hour our
[00:03:14] farm was already flooded, and by evening the farm and everything was
[00:03:18] flooded, and this is my
[00:03:21] farm. For three or four days, the water in the village stayed at the same level, it didn't go anywhere, says
[00:03:25] village head Vasyl Khomko. In general, according to him, Afanasiyivka was an
[00:03:28] island for at least 10 days. The
[00:03:31] village has a supply of both its own products and
[00:03:35] canned goods.
[00:03:37] But
[00:03:40] the world knew about us, and immediately volunteers were
[00:03:43] here, with water, with food, yes,
[00:03:46] with essential products,
[00:03:50] all this was provided, and they didn't know about light, and
[00:03:54] flashlights, well, this is very, very much, so much
[00:03:57] that you can't count it.
[00:04:01] During the flood, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, 75 people
[00:04:04] were evacuated from the flooded part of Afanasiyivka, but
[00:04:08] there was no forced resettlement, emphasizes the head of the
[00:04:11] village. No, not by force, well,
[00:04:15] that is, if a person wanted to, then in principle
[00:04:18] they could apply, there was a ferry crossing, as I told you, it was
[00:04:21] organized, whoever wanted to, and it was not just a crossing, you could
[00:04:25] also cross with transport, well, such a crossing, that is, in your
[00:04:29] car. Yes, you could, yes, you could go in and
[00:04:32] cross.
[00:04:39] Olena's house is right by the water, the garden abuts the
[00:04:42] lake. In 2023, the woman's farm and residential
[00:04:46] buildings went under water. Olena recalls how it all happened.
[00:04:49] Yes, here, here it was
[00:04:53] like this, ten, ten, a little
[00:04:56] more, yes, in the house, 175.
[00:05:00] I don't know how it was there, maybe it was the same. But did you have time to
[00:05:03] react to all this, well, that is, to somehow
[00:05:06] escape, or was it rising slowly or not? It
[00:05:09] was rising slowly, but no one believed that it would be here. Here we
[00:05:13] have closer, Olena goes to show where
[00:05:16] the water was coming from, she walks around the wall with peeling plaster, on which
[00:05:20] you can see what the level
[00:05:21] of flooding was. The cellar was completely
[00:05:25] with water, all this was completely in water, yes, completely
[00:05:28] water was completely, here in the cellar, oh, the cellar is
[00:05:32] deep for
[00:05:33] you.
[00:05:37] Here from the whole lake p
[00:05:41] the thing is, there, right?
[00:05:50] Olena regrets most about the old fruit trees, which
[00:05:54] were simply washed away by the water.
[00:05:58] There were a lot of trees, they all died, those old ones
[00:06:01] died, because everything was flooded, the trees were not visible at all,
[00:06:04] yes, and the water rose, well,
[00:06:07] those trees were completely under water, well, not these trees, those that were, they are no
[00:06:11] longer there. After 10 days, when the water receded, the problems
[00:06:14] for the residents of Afanasiyivka only began, explains
[00:06:17] Olena. Yes, there was water all over here, and then
[00:06:21] after the water left, we had a queue here, we
[00:06:23] called, demine, so that they would come here,
[00:06:27] boys
[00:06:28] came.
[00:06:31] Whether it was by current or along with the water that began to recede,
[00:06:35] the Dnipro and Inhulets could have brought ammunition or
[00:06:38] oil products to the village.
[00:06:41] And it arrived. Whoever wanted to, it arrived, well, it didn't reach
[00:06:45] us, yes, whatever wanted to, it floated, there
[00:06:48] further is the river, then through the dam, you see, there is already a queue, you can
[00:06:52] see there, I see, and there the dam goes to another village, to
[00:06:55] our community too, and the water went over
[00:06:59] that dam and started to flood us here, everything was floating,
[00:07:03] we saw this on this and
[00:07:06] worried, because somewhere it was reported
[00:07:09] that on the way to us some...
[00:07:13] oil spots were washed away, all this
[00:07:16] flowed into people's
[00:07:18] houses.
[00:07:21] During the flood in Afanasiyivka, there was no electricity, and because
[00:07:25] of this, there was also no drinking water in the village surrounded
[00:07:28] by water. We have a well located in the lowlands
[00:07:32] that supplies water to the entire settlement,
[00:07:35] and it was completely flooded,
[00:07:38] and it was disconnected from electricity, well, so that there would be no
[00:07:43] short circuit, well, so that no
[00:07:46] such things would arise, all this was disconnected,
[00:07:49] water supply, well, there was no
[00:07:52] such thing, because it was flooded, this well was
[00:07:55] flooded.
[00:08:01] It turned out, explains Olena, that after the flood, almost the only plus was
[00:08:05] that the garden did not have to be additionally
[00:08:07] fertilized.
[00:08:09] For a couple of years, it grew like this here. We didn't
[00:08:13] fertilize it with anything, yes, we didn't fertilize it with anything. This
[00:08:16] year it's a little
[00:08:17] worse.
[00:08:20] For three years, for many residents of Afanasiyivka affected by the
[00:08:24] flood, the main task has been to restore everything that the
[00:08:27] water damaged. Valentyna leads us to show her house, hundreds
[00:08:31] of meters below is the lake, and it's even hard to believe that in
[00:08:34] 2023 the water rose so
[00:08:37] high. This house, this house was
[00:08:40] flooded up to... this was
[00:08:43] 31, yes, yes, and the water was there in the front garden, this
[00:08:47] water was all the way there, here we have the lowest
[00:08:50] point, and here you can even see where the water was, where
[00:08:53] the house windows, this is my yes, this water
[00:08:56] was there, you can see it. Valentyna points to a mark on
[00:09:00] her fence where the water stood. Her house is
[00:09:03] located lower. Oh, like that,
[00:09:06] yes, yes, because I washed this a little here,
[00:09:10] and those further on are not washed. Well, we even have a
[00:09:13] trace left, yes, yes, yes, a trace, a trace is left, this is how much
[00:09:17] water was here, aha.
[00:09:20] Valentyna's house was submerged almost to the
[00:09:23] roof. I'll clarify, the water was
[00:09:26] here, where it peeled off, this, yes, this, here
[00:09:30] it was, that's exactly what it was washing
[00:09:33] away with this plaster, everything was, everything
[00:09:36] was, all this was flooded, we couldn't
[00:09:40] enter here, and I sent you a video there, that on the
[00:09:44] ninth day, I stood like this here in boots,
[00:09:47] I walked here, this was on the ninth day, yes, the water
[00:09:51] still completely covered the garden and near
[00:09:55] the house. In the house, Mother
[00:09:58] of God, for 9 days the water stood here, it did not
[00:10:02] recede.
[00:10:05] And then on the ninth day I went into
[00:10:08] the house.
[00:10:11] When the water receded, a special commission of the Starostynskiy
[00:10:14] district inspected places like Valentyna's, explains Vasyl Khomko.
[00:10:18] The commission recorded the fact of the flooding of the household. Then the data
[00:10:21] was transferred to the district commission.
[00:10:25] Based on our acts, a commission from the
[00:10:29] district came and
[00:10:31] recorded the damages,
[00:10:35] which were calculated, well, through which
[00:10:39] the damages were calculated, they looked at the height
[00:10:42] of the flooding and there, judging by this, they
[00:10:46] calculated the damages that they sustained and calculated
[00:10:50] for people according to this e-restoration, there was such a program
[00:10:53] e-restoration. And they received
[00:10:57] various sums, I don't remember the exact amounts, but from 200 to
[00:11:00] half a million, such funds were
[00:11:03] allocated.
[00:11:07] The commission estimated the damages to Valentyna's household at 200,000
[00:11:11] hryvnias. The woman shows what she managed to do with this
[00:11:14] money. Here we haven't finished yet, because we don't have
[00:11:17] enough money. They gave us only 200 thousand, aha, and
[00:11:21] all the money is already gone. What was here with us that we...
[00:11:25] the floor was collapsing, well, everything here was
[00:11:29] cleared, the walls had nothing
[00:11:32] on them, only stones, everything was
[00:11:35] collapsed, everything was lying there. There was a stove
[00:11:37] here, a furnace, everything was collapsed, only bricks and
[00:11:41] stones were on the ground, everything in
[00:11:43] soot.
[00:11:47] For all three years, Valentyna has been living with her daughter. Her house in Afanasiyivka,
[00:11:50] except for the basement, was not flooded. She cannot live in her own home,
[00:11:54] the renovation is not...
[00:12:08] In an untouched state after the flood, which happened three years ago, Valentyna's summer kitchen and utility buildings remained. And this is how
[00:12:11] the potatoes were collected here in the garden.
[00:12:15] Potatoes.
[00:12:17] Here it was, well, this was our kitchen, a summer
[00:12:21] kitchen, it was a summer kitchen, yes, my parents were here, so it was a summer kitchen, my brother.
[00:12:25] I had an invalid brother, so he lived here, this is summer.
[00:12:28] The walls were like this, everything was beautiful,
[00:12:31] everything was plastered, everything was, and here everything was white, everything
[00:12:34] was, all this water took it all off, all this fell, the
[00:12:38] walls here were not plastered, all this collapsed like this,
[00:12:42] completely. You have already started now, yes, there was no compensation
[00:12:46] for the reconstruction of such premises. The commission did not even calculate
[00:12:49] it, explains village head Vasyl Khomko.
[00:12:52] It is only for a person to restore their home. For
[00:12:55] housing, yes, but for a cellar,
[00:12:59] a garage, some shed, no funds were
[00:13:02] allocated for this, only for repairs. And how is the procedure, how
[00:13:06] is it controlled that a person spends money on this? They come
[00:13:09] and check, seriously, yes, funds are
[00:13:13] transferred to them, and then after some time, they say, we are going
[00:13:17] to check how you spent those funds, and they went and
[00:13:20] checked
[00:13:23] how these funds were spent.
[00:13:28] Valentyna shows what is left of the shed that supported
[00:13:31] the house from the side of the garden and the lake. This is what met
[00:13:35] the water, and all this
[00:13:37] collapsed, completely. Valentyna does not have
[00:13:41] enough money to rebuild the farmyard and finish the renovation of the residential
[00:13:44] premises. She worked in the village at a kindergarten all
[00:13:48] her life. She is now on
[00:13:50] a pension.
[00:13:54] At Olena's neighbor, whom we visited earlier, the summer kitchen is also in
[00:13:58] a deplorable state, bare walls, the premises are recognized
[00:14:02] as uninhabitable, so compensation is not provided. Everything here
[00:14:05] fell off like that, well, it fell off in pieces,
[00:14:08] Olena says the water level in the
[00:14:11] summer kitchen reached 1.75 meters.
[00:14:15] I am 1.80, that's somewhere, well, yes, like
[00:14:18] that. It's even written in my documents 1.75, they
[00:14:21] measured it. There was a kitchen wall here, here it...
[00:14:31] A feature of houses in southern Ukraine and Afanasiyivka,
[00:14:34] in particular, is low ceilings and walls, often made of shell rock and
[00:14:38] clay.
[00:14:40] Well, it just collapsed in pieces, because here it was clay with straw, we
[00:14:44] used to do it to keep it warm, here, you see,
[00:14:48] only needles remained.
[00:14:52] Olena's house renovation is finished, although the woman says she had to
[00:14:55] add her own money to the 2,000 hryvnia compensation. There was no
[00:14:59] money left for furniture and household appliances. They even
[00:15:02] said that you can't buy furniture, only for
[00:15:06] repairs, for materials and that's it. There is no furniture,
[00:15:09] no, there isn't. I live in another house, where my mother
[00:15:13] lived, and I live there, I was
[00:15:15] internally displaced.
[00:15:20] Afanasivka was under occupation for seven months, like many settlements
[00:15:24] in the Snihurivka district. Locals say the village suffered from
[00:15:27] shelling, Russian soldiers took phones, checked
[00:15:30] documents, and searched for ATO veterans, but due to Afanasiyivka's unique
[00:15:34] location in the lowlands, they did not stay long.
[00:15:40] They were afraid to settle down, because we have water all around here, and they
[00:15:44] were afraid to go there. They just came,
[00:15:47] they even came, they left, they lived there at the substation,
[00:15:50] there.
[00:15:57] It's a paradox, but after the flood, the village, surrounded by water, has problems with
[00:16:01] quality drinking
[00:16:02] water.
[00:16:05] The water was, I want to say one thing, that it was
[00:16:09] very poor quality water, and
[00:16:13] after it, the condition of underground waters deteriorated,
[00:16:16] well, not the condition, but the quality, well,
[00:16:20] the quality has deteriorated a lot, it
[00:16:23] is still checking us, here in
[00:16:26] Afanasiyivka we don't have centralized, there are
[00:16:28] public wells, and they are constantly
[00:16:32] monitored by our
[00:16:34] sanitation station, well...
[00:16:42] It so happened that on the day of our visit, equipment for purifying
[00:16:46] drinking water was being installed in Afanasiyivka. The water from the well
[00:16:50] will be additionally filtered and will become ideal for
[00:16:53] consumption. According to the conditions of the volunteers who allocated money for
[00:16:56] the equipment, this water will be free for all residents
[00:17:00] of the village.
[00:17:02] Dmytro Yevchyn, Mykyta Isayko, Borys Mazur and Hryhoriy Pihnastyi,
[00:17:05] Crimea Realities.
[00:17:20] Espresso, together with the Charitable Foundation "Man and Law", asks you to join
[00:17:24] the fundraising. Wishing you health, we are infantrymen of the second battalion
[00:17:27] of the 109th separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine. We are fighting in the
[00:17:31] Pokrovsky direction. To effectively destroy the enemy, military
[00:17:35] equipment needs to be systematically charged. This is not always
[00:17:38] possible due to difficult conditions at the front. We appeal to the viewers and
[00:17:42] readers of Espresso with a request to support the most important
[00:17:45] collection for military charging stations. Velstrum stations
[00:17:49] are designed specifically for military needs and are fully adapted to
[00:17:52] military operations. They are capable of replacing generators and providing
[00:17:56] soldiers with energy even in field conditions. These silent and
[00:17:59] powerful charging stations are necessary for performing combat
[00:18:03] missions. Every hryvnia transferred will allow us to quickly
[00:18:06] transfer such necessary devices to our defenders. Thank you
[00:18:10] for your understanding, glory to Ukraine, glory!
[00:18:29] New salary, new salary, new
[00:18:33] salary, new salary, your new
[00:18:36] salary is waiting...
[00:18:50] Tea-Monomakh, let it sound your way.
[00:18:54] Nervousness, fright, stress, something is wrong with your heart
[00:18:57] again, take Corvalment, Corvalt,
[00:19:00] calm your
[00:19:03] heart. Can't straighten up?
[00:19:07] Your back needs Arget-plaster with lidocaine. Arget - a
[00:19:11] powerful plaster for back pain. Usual remedies
[00:19:15] will relieve sore throat for a short time, but Dequaldol
[00:19:18] is effective because it eliminates the cause of inflammation. Dequaldol
[00:19:21] treats sore throat, relieves pain.
[00:19:25] When you are tired, stressed, any trifle seems like a huge
[00:19:29] problem and irritates. Magnicum for preventing
[00:19:32] irritability and stress. Joint pain arises suddenly and
[00:19:35] restricts movement. For pain in joints and muscles, German comfrey
[00:19:39] ointment from Dr. Theiss, relieves pain, reduces inflammation and swelling, contains
[00:19:43] natural ingredients. Save money by buying Dr. Theiss comfrey ointment
[00:19:47] in a large 100 g package. The sensation of sand in the eyes can occur due to
[00:19:51] dryness or eye fatigue. Visik intensive eye drops intensively moisturize and
[00:19:54] provide effective care. Visic Blue for dry and tired
[00:19:58] eyes. Girls, I see you are in great shape. To maintain
[00:20:02] joint activity, I take Gerovital-Flexovit?
[00:20:05] Yes, with glucosamine and... it combines five
[00:20:07] active
[00:20:10] components for nutritional support of bones and cartilage. Vitamin C contributes
[00:20:14] to normal collagen formation. Gerovital Flexovit, when
[00:20:17] joints need support. This
[00:20:20] is a connection.
[00:20:24] This, this also,
[00:20:28] this is laughter, sometimes
[00:20:31] tears. But always the desire to be
[00:20:34] together, among the rows and...
[00:20:38] kilometers, because connection is people, and we only provide
[00:20:42] technologies, 5G, the largest 4G network and Starling,
[00:20:46] direct to cell, Kyivstar, to meet you, when you are not in control of your life.
[00:20:50] Symptoms control you, it can be irritable bowel syndrome.
[00:20:53] Try Enterol. It normalizes microflora and supports
[00:20:57] the natural defense of the intestine. Enterol, take control of your
[00:21:01] life.
[00:21:04] Fopi. Pump knows how much your bank gives
[00:21:06] you. It treats you to delicious coffee at
[00:21:10] the branch. Arabica, and Pump - withdrawal and
[00:21:13] cash withdrawal of income, without commission.
[00:21:16] Free lollipops for customers, well, what a joke.
[00:21:22] At Pump - unlimited free payments and free account
[00:21:25] maintenance, free, free, and fopi, you
[00:21:29] don't need to change banks to try the real benefits of Pump, Pump -
[00:21:32] business, it's worth trying. Remember the new
[00:21:36] name, the crystal Viet D3, your
[00:21:39] vitamin D3 in a yellow
[00:21:41] package. Well, I ate again and everything
[00:21:45] is standing, hurting, distending, nauseating. When bile
[00:21:49] is not excreted in... Digestion is like on pause, Allochol
[00:21:52] eliminates bile stagnation, bloating and pain, Allochol
[00:21:56] for the liver, gallbladder and improving digestion. A runny nose can be
[00:21:59] so nasty, your nose is stuffed, mine is running. For a nasty
[00:22:03] runny nose, we have Snotty, so that your nose doesn't get nasty. Snotty relieves
[00:22:07] nasal congestion. So that your nose doesn't drip, Snotty removes pathogens from
[00:22:09] the mucus. Snotty, so your nose breathes, not
[00:22:13] gets nasty. October pastries, a shower
[00:22:16] of offers. 10% discount on tablets.
[00:23:50] Ukrainian view.
[00:23:53] Events that change the world. Main daily summaries live
[00:23:57] on Espresso. My name is Vasyl Zyma and we are starting
[00:24:00] our information studio. Politics with Yuriy
[00:24:04] Fizar, analytics from Serhiy z Hurtsia, economics with Oleksandr
[00:24:07] Morshchivka, news with Khrystyna Yatskiv, culture from
[00:24:11] Lena Chechenina, and weather forecast from Natalka
[00:24:14] Didenko. A lot of interesting information, a rich broadcast awaits
[00:24:17] you, Ukrainian focus evening. Every day on weekdays on Espresso.
[00:24:38] Welcome, this is the Eastern Shield program. And today we are talking
[00:24:41] about the soundtrack to Vivaldi. The tactical successes
[00:24:44] of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already becoming operational. The new
[00:24:47] strategy of the Kremlin - the second front for... Russia will be the civilian
[00:24:51] population of Ukraine. Readiness number one.
[00:24:54] Russia has started attacks on energy infrastructure, is
[00:24:58] Ukraine ready? History against Putin.
[00:25:01] Why the dictator makes a mistake trying to
[00:25:04] repeat historical scenarios
[00:25:07] of capitulation.
[00:25:11] The war is over, but the war will
[00:25:14] continue. Sounds paradoxical and even
[00:25:18] absurd, doesn't it? However. from the point of view of the strategy chosen,
[00:25:22] or rather, once again changed by Vladimir Putin, it is so. If
[00:25:25] for almost 5 years the dictator hoped to defeat Ukraine on
[00:25:28] the battlefield, now he plans to do so through
[00:25:32] the collapse of our rear. Let's look closer at
[00:25:35] what happened and what
[00:25:38] will happen. 2025 was the most difficult
[00:25:41] for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Our army slowly but
[00:25:44] retreated. The enemy entered the territory of Svyatislavshchyna, approached
[00:25:48] Sumy, threatened Zaporizhzhia.
[00:25:50] The successful Kursk operation was already behind, Putin
[00:25:53] again believed in his lucky star and that his bet on
[00:25:57] a protracted war after the failure of the Blitzkrieg in 2022
[00:26:01] would still play out.
[00:26:03] But in the spring of 2026, the Armed Forces of Ukraine stabilized the front.
[00:26:07] First, through a series of counter-offensive actions, the threat to
[00:26:10] Zaporizhzhia was removed. This was done by Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi. And in the autumn
[00:26:13] of 2026, the new Commander-in-Chief Drapata continued the tactic
[00:26:17] of free counter-offensives this time in Donetsk region, where Ukraine
[00:26:20] entered a decisive battle for the belt of fortress cities.
[00:26:24] To the music of Vivaldi, the defense forces cut off the Russian salient near
[00:26:27] Lyman, which threatened our belt of fortresses that cover
[00:26:31] a huge operational space all the way to the city of
[00:26:35] Dnipro, and now Russian military correspondents began to complain that
[00:26:39] now they would be beaten in another
[00:26:41] place. Following the problems in the Lyman
[00:26:45] direction, the situation is deteriorating in the Sloviansk direction as well. The enemy
[00:26:48] managed to consolidate in the area of Dibrova and Ozerne, which
[00:26:52] worsened the situation for Russian units in the area of
[00:26:55] Kryva Luka and Pisky.
[00:26:58] To summarize, what is happening at the front is what we have been talking about since
[00:27:02] spring. A dead end. We cannot yet
[00:27:05] inflict a strategic blow on the enemy that would force
[00:27:08] him to leave Ukraine. But our tactical successes have already
[00:27:12] grown into operational ones. Putin also realized this. There is no
[00:27:16] longer any hope of victory at the front. Perhaps this is also
[00:27:19] connected with the fact that a huge forced
[00:27:22] mobilization of 600-800 thousand, with the closure of borders,
[00:27:26] which was threatened immediately after the elections to the State Duma, did not
[00:27:29] happen. But this does not mean at all
[00:27:33] that Putin realized the futility of his plans to conquer Ukraine,
[00:27:36] and that the war will soon end, no, it will only intensify. In
[00:27:40] the Kremlin, they simply changed plans again. If earlier attacks on
[00:27:43] the Ukrainian rear were auxiliary in pressuring the front, now
[00:27:47] civilians themselves are becoming the main target for Putin, and combat
[00:27:51] operations at the front are auxiliary. The strategy
[00:27:54] has changed, the goal remains the
[00:27:57] same. In this strategy, Putin relies on
[00:28:00] historical experience, when he wins, but
[00:28:04] the uprising of the exhausted civilian population
[00:28:07] forces the authorities to go for a humiliating capitulation. Let's
[00:28:10] recall how it already was.
[00:28:14] June 4, September 20, 1916
[00:28:18] saw one of the most successful operations
[00:28:21] of the Entente and the most successful Russian offensive in World War I - the
[00:28:24] Brusilov Offensive, or the Lutsk Offensive.
[00:28:27] On a front about 300 km long, about half a million
[00:28:31] Russian soldiers simultaneously went on the offensive, and in total, about 1.5 million
[00:28:34] military personnel took part in the operation. The Russian army
[00:28:38] occupied a significant part of Volhynia, Galicia, and Bukovina. At the same time, the
[00:28:41] offensive forced Germany to transfer troops from the Western Front, which
[00:28:45] weakened the attack on Verdun, helped save Italy from defeat
[00:28:48] by Austrian troops, and eventually contributed to Romania's entry into the war on the side of
[00:28:52] the Entente. For the Russian Empire itself, this victory was the last
[00:28:56] major success in the war and actually the last historical
[00:28:59] chord of the empire. Huge human losses, about half
[00:29:02] a million killed and wounded, and the exhaustion of the economy accelerated the irreversible
[00:29:06] processes of its disintegration. Already half a year later, in February
[00:29:09] 1917, a revolution took place. The provisional government still
[00:29:12] tried to keep Russia in the war, but after the Bolshevik
[00:29:16] coup, the new government agreed to the terms of Germany and
[00:29:19] Austria-Hungary and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, effectively withdrawing
[00:29:23] Russia from the war. In March
[00:29:25] 1918, Germany and Austria-Hungary
[00:29:29] triumphed. The Eastern Front, which was particularly difficult for them,
[00:29:32] given the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian army, which without German help
[00:29:36] would have lost the war at its very beginning, finally fell. As a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
[00:29:40] Russia lost Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia,
[00:29:43] Estonia, as well as the Turkish vilayets in the Caucasus,
[00:29:46] Kars, Ardahan, Batumi. Russia was supposed to pay 6
[00:29:50] billion marks in reparations. It seemed that the Triple Alliance,
[00:29:53] having received unlimited food resources from Ukraine, would still defeat
[00:29:57] the Entente. But already half a year later, in the autumn of 1918,
[00:30:00] revolutions took place in Austria-Hungary and Germany, which ended
[00:30:04] their capitulation in the First World War. This is precisely
[00:30:08] what Vladimir Putin is betting on – a revolution
[00:30:11] inside Ukraine, which as a result of the exhaustion of the rear
[00:30:15] will force Kyiv to agree to
[00:30:17] capitulation. Forgetting, however, that this strategy
[00:30:21] can also work the other way, but he has no other
[00:30:25] option than to break the rear. This is why
[00:30:28] the aerial terror against the civilian population is intensifying. The Kremlin
[00:30:31] is convinced that Ukrainians will certainly not survive this winter,
[00:30:34] this is their last
[00:30:37] attempt. The first strategic level,
[00:30:40] the front, Putin has already lost. The second strategic
[00:30:43] level, the rear, he is going to win, because beyond that is only the third
[00:30:46] strategic level. The use of nuclear weapons, but
[00:30:50] there are so many nuances, starting from the Chinese position, that
[00:30:54] it can only exist theoretically, but in
[00:30:56] practice it is unrealistic to use.