Chief of General Staff Colonel General Viktor Muzhenko
Kyiv Post: Chief of General Staff sparks outrage with remark Shyrokyne has ‘no military value’
The chief of Ukraine’s Army General Staff has left many baffled after declaring that the destroyed village of Shyrokyne “has no military value” – after soldiers held positions there for months that they said were key to defending the strategic city of Mariupol.
Army chief Viktor Muzhenko made the comments in an interview with the news portal ZN.UA on Aug. 30, saying the “(separatists’) winter offensive on this village was more a PR stunt than a military operation” and while Shyrokyne was known the whole world over, the besieged town “has no military value whatsoever.”
Muzhenko’s comments ignited a flurry of angry condemnations from activists and soldiers with experience in the war-torn village, which saw Ukraine’s volunteer battalions withdrawn in late July despite major protests against the move.
WNU Editor: This remark capsulizes why there is little support for the war in Ukraine, and why Ukraine President Poroshenko's poll numbers are in the basement.