in a few moments we will watch together, good evening, we are from ukraine, glory to ukraine, this is the verdict program, my name is serhii rudenko, i congratulate everyone and wish everyone good health. for the next two hours, we will talk about the war, about our victory, about ukraine and about the world. today in the program. strategic defense operation. after the withdrawal from avdiivka , the zsu settled in new frontiers. in which areas of the front is the greatest threat? the us and the eu are introducing new sanctions against russia, but long-range weapons are still in question. why is the west losing faith in the victory of ukraine? thousands of trucks in queues. the grain blockade of polish farmers continues. zelensky suggests. thing of the governments of the two countries at the border.

over the next hour, we will talk about this and other things with our guests, the former head of the ministry of foreign affairs of ukraine andrii deshchytsa, military expert serhii grabskyi and diplomat oleksandr khareya. the second part of our program, which will start in an hour, will feature political experts serhii taran and oleksiy koshel. however, before we start our big talk, let's see video of two enemy t-72 tanks flying into the air. artillerymen of the 71st separate hunter brigade stopped the movement of enemy equipment, and fpv drone operators finished the job with an epic explosion. let's see.

friends, we are working live on the espresso tv channel, as well as on our platforms in youtube and facebook, simultaneously with the live broadcast and its broadcast on these platforms, we are conducting a survey, we are asking you about this, whether we should block... polish trucks in the answer to the hope of the poles is yes, no, please vote in youtube with the yes buttons, no, or write your option in the comments below this video, if you watch us on tv, pick up your smartphone and vote if you think polish trucks should be blocked, 0 800 211 381, no 0.800 211 382, ​​all calls to these numbers are free, at the end of the program we will

summarize the results of this vote. we are in touch with andrii dyschitsia, diplomat, former extraordinary plenipotentiary ambassador of ukraine to poland and former head of the ministry of foreign affairs of ukraine. mr. andrii, i congratulate you, thank you for being with me today by us good evening, glory to ukraine. glory to heroes. a rather difficult situation, mr. andriy, is taking place in poland and on the border between ukraine and poland. on wednesday, february 21, polish farmers continue to block traffic. on the border with ukraine, as of this morning , approximately 25 trucks were waiting in line to enter our country from the republic of poland, according to a message from the state border service of ukraine. today, president zelensky announced that he instructed the government to be at the border with poland by february 24 and asked the prime minister of poland, donald tusk, too. to come there, and the president also called.

anjaya dudu will support the government dialogue. let's listen to what zelensky said. i want to address the polish society and testify ukrainian gratitude to everyone who shares political manipulations and fundamental issues of national security. i want to address the polish government, prime minister tusk and the ministers. i instructed. to our government in the near future by february 24 to be at the border between our states, the head of the government of ukraine, our entire government, from logistics to the agricultural sector, and of course, minister of defense of ukraine, because this blockade on the border, unfortunately, adds threats to the supply of weapons to our boys at the front. and i am asking you, donald, mr. prime minister, to come too. to the border, andrzej, mr.

president, i am asking you to support this dialogue, it is national security, we should not delay it, the coming days. give us a chance to do it, i am ready to be at the border together with our government, and i want to appeal now to the european commission, we need to preserve unity in europe, this is a fundamental interest of the european union, so ukraine appeals to of the european commission, that a representative of the european commission should take part in this meeting also for the sake of common interests and to stop political ones. mr. andriy, now president zelenskyy is acting as a fireman, was it possible to avoid such a development of events and a massive blockade of our border, well, let’s say two, two months in advance to schedule such a meeting or

conduct negotiations, instead of calling on duda and tusk to come but to the border literally on february 24? well, look, actually, two months ago, or even a month ago, we still... expected that the polish government, the new polish government, which declared its readiness to help ukraine, which declared its readiness to develop relations with ukraine, and the prime minister of poland donald tusk visited kyiv and made these statements also in kyiv and showed his openness to such cooperation in fact, the government did not react in any way to the protests of polish farmers, which began, well, on a more... large-scale, these larger-scale actions began about two weeks ago, and, of course, to predict these two months ago was impossible, but i believe that this statement of the president and the appeal to the polish government is very timely, because the polish government,

well, if you can say that, has been a little self-absorbed from solving the problems of polish farmers, they say that they are in dialogue with in polish... the farm, they are trying, they say that they are conducting a dialogue with the ukrainian side, they are trying to find some kind of understanding also with brussels, because these demands of polish farmers also concern the european agricultural policy, but nevertheless, nothing happens, in fact, and the protesters are putting forward new and new demands, expanding their protests to an ever-larger territory, new... professional groups are joining them, and if the polish government does not react, then this is actually a good time for the ukrainian government to pay attention to it, so that it is not only about solving the problems of polish farmers, it is about

striking the security and defense power of ukraine, er, and these protests at the border, blocking the border. blocking of international transportation actually affects the defense capability of ukraine, and we cannot to stand will threaten this, not to mention that it affects the economy of ukraine. mr. andrii, president zelensky also mentioned the third party, the european commission, the european union. poland is a member of the european union, and it is clear that its actions against ukrainians are perceived as actions of the large european community. since the poles are integrated into the european system, why in this case a third party did not intervene and is not interfering in this story, considering the fact that we are going to the european union and it will happen in five years or in 10 this border will not exist between poland

and ukraine and there will be nothing to block, it is only a matter of time, and why is the european union not inactive in this situation? well , first of all, the european... union is actually reacting to or the european commission is reacting to the protests, which, the farmers' protests that are happening all over europe, and who are expressing their dissatisfaction with the new policy, the agricultural policy of the european union, the so-called green order or whether the green green the green way, and so far... the european union or the european commission, given the fact that there was a recent change of government in poland, if i expected that this government would be able to take, well, full control, under full control of everything that

happens in poland, but it seems that the government is not able to deal with the challenges that... appeared in the in connection with the protests of agricultural producers, and in the end , the polish government itself today, or the ministry of agriculture, appealed to the european commission to help them solve these problems, because in fact, even if we are talking about one of the demands of the protesters, it is a ban on exports of ukrainian agricultural products to the polish or european market, it cannot be decided only at the level of warsaw or not only at the level of negotiations between ukraine and poland, the european commission should also be involved there, and as far as i know, on friday

, orsula fondain is already arriving in warsaw together with the prime minister of belgium, belgium, which presides over the european, in the european union at the moment, i think there will be serious talks with the polish government to settle the situation, because it is about not only. about the ukrainian-polish border, this is ukraine's border with the european union, and this is a weakening of the unity, solidarity and defense of the entire european union, what is happening on the border with ukraine, and therefore it is also in the interest of the eu to solve these problems as soon as possible. well, are you correct in saying that this is the border of the european union and ukraine? and this is also a border that allows us to import here

the goods that we need in order to wage war with the russian federation, this should also be understood in the european union and in poland, that's for sure, well, at least the consul general of poland in lviv, eliza dzvonkiewicz, strongly condemned the actions of polish farmers on the polish-ukrainian border, apologized to warring ukraine for what she wrote on twitter, i can't pretend that i don't see these shameful actions of poland on the polish-ukrainian border. i apologize to you, dear ukrainian friends, what is happening cannot be the work of my compatriots. what ms. zvonkiewicz said, is this a response to the fact that polish farmers could be taken advantage of by pro-russian forces or the russian forces, and... or the russian special services and put that tractor on which yesterday's poster was, putin, please, intervene

in this matter and solve this issue, how do you see it, is this the mood of a part of the poles, or are we wrong, or are they some provocateurs, you know the situation in poland much better than any of us, and you can say for sure that it was a provocation, or that the position was... well, parts of the people that are possible so they think, well, first of all, i would like to say what to note and thank ms to consul general eliza dzwankiewicz, mrs. consul general of poland in lviv for her position, this is a very timely, very correct, intelligent, sober voice, and she herself sees it very well, being right near the ukrainian-polish border. to what extent this situation can worsen relations between our countries and weaken the security factor

and defense capability of both ukraine and poland, which absolutely no one needs. the second is the question regarding provocations. actually, uh, yes, as, if you follow how it developed these events, and that they became more and more aggravated and... the demands and slogans and statements of the protesters were anti-ukrainian in nature, and the politicians of the right-wing confederation party, which is known for having ties to russia, also began to join this, and business connections, and political connections, and possibly financial connections, then it can be said that some russian special services, through their agents in poland, are using... stage this strike in order to actually stir up

relations between ukraine and poland, and it is even worse between ukrainians and poles, precisely because of that, and and what we've seen these slogans that come up is one of those slogans that everybody paid attention to because it was very loud, but there are also many similar slogans and these incitements to let's sow the seed, let's not miss not only cargo, but also passengers, let's expel all ukrainians from poland, these are all for... you are actually aimed at inciting inter-ethnic enmity, and in particular between ukrainians and poles, because that is why we can say here that there is enough large element actually this third influence of a third party, well, first of all, russia, the russians, who are interested

in the fact that there is no unity between ukraine and poland, and one more small emphasis that i wanted to... make, of course, polish farmers have the right to their protests, nevertheless , actually some forces are urging them to do these protests near the ukrainian-polish border, but it is not ukrainian drivers who decide, their demands will be decided, it is not passengers of ukrainian buses and cars who will solve their problems, their the problems can be solved by the polish... government, the polish parliament can be solved by the european commission, and therefore such protests should be made right near the polish government, near the ministry of agriculture and or in brussels, nevertheless someone incites to make these protests right at the border. at first it was done by the truckers who were directly connected to the er

confederation with the russian special services, and now it is done by the er... farmers, i understand their dissatisfaction, but it looks like their dissatisfaction, their protests are consciously or unconsciously used by those who play into the hands of moscow. well, by the way, the deputy minister of agriculture of poland, michal kolodziajczyk, confirmed to the polish press agency that ukrainian grain is actually going through poland in transit, but expressed concern that the prospect of loss could be the polish... farmers of the german market , what you are talking about, that, in principle , the poles should have returned to the western border, in this case not the eastern, which he said absolutely correctly, that is, if the ukrainian now it enters germany and in the end the grain that was spilled, as ukrzaliznytsia claims, was actually supposed to go in transit through polsua to germany, and then

return to poland, well, let them express their protests to the german, well , ukrainian companies that buy it . grain, and then resell it to poland, or to polish companies that buy this grain, and ukrainian drivers are here. i will quote michal kolodziejczyk, who said that if i went to protest today, i would block another border. poland introduced an embargo on that products from ukraine, which worried us the most. take germany, we also see protests and statements by german farmers in germany that they do not want these products from ukraine, where it is clear that companies buy a lot from poland, but... did not introduce an embargo on these products, which creates congestion, and ukrainian the german market also takes away our products. in addition, already after that, the deputy minister of agriculture said that poland may introduce further restrictions on the import of ukrainian goods in the absence of cooperation with ukraine from the ukrainian side. in his opinion, quotas for

goods from ukraine should be introduced at the level of the european union. well, again, if we are talking about the introduction of quotas at the level of the european union, then why again they go to the ukrainian border, that is, let them go to brussels, and in brussels they simply discuss these issues, simply in this story, i understand , there is a party that is interested in the fact that the poles are constantly near the ukrainian border, that they close the western window to us, well, the window to western europe in fact, and or let's say to create another front on the western border of ukraine, but you were right about... that someone is trying to make ukrainians and poles collide again, we had a difficult history between two countries, between two peoples, and it is clear that everyone now some insults will be remembered about what happened, but don't the poles have a sense of the instinct of self-preservation, because they understand that if we lose to putin, then

they will be the next in this situation, and what they do, they just shoot themselves into your leg well, there is such an awareness in polish society that after all, poland can be the next target of russian aggressive policy, but nevertheless, these emotions that arose among the protesters have somewhat obscured this awareness, and i think that it is necessary as much as possible . to once again remind polish society, polish farmers and the polish government that the biggest threat is not ukrainian grain, but russian...aggressive policy, and in fact, if russia continues its further military expansion,

then we will no longer talk about quotas or prices for agricultural products, but we and the poles will defend ourselves, there is no need, the source of all these problems is the kremlin, and we would never use the polish... the territory for as a corridor for the export of ukrainian agricultural products, we were able to manage it by having a sea corridor, but russia blocked it for us, it is true, we are now restoring it, but for a certain period, for a certain time, she blocked it, and we are therefore forced were to use poland and to export our products to other markets, but if we do not combine. if we do not stand in solidarity, if we do not stand together in the fight against russian aggression, then each of the countries will become victims individually, and then the whole

of europe. thank you, mr. andriy, for the conversation, it was andriy dyshchytsia, diplomat, former extraordinary plenipotentiary ambassador of ukraine to the republic of poland. friends, we work live on the espresso tv channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms. like this. videos on those platforms on which you watch us, and take part in our vote, today we ask you about whether it is necessary to block polish trucks in response to the actions of the poles, yes, no, everything is quite simple on youtube, or write your comment under this video that what do you think about this, if you watch us on tv, pick up your smartphone or phone and vote if you think we should block polish trucks in response to their blockade (0800-21 300). 71 no 0800 211 382 all calls to these numbers are available call for free at the end of the program , we will sum up the results of this vote. next

, we will contact serhii grabskyi, a military expert, a veteran of the international mission in iraq, co-founder of the all-ukrainian union of participants in peacekeeping actions and operations. mr. serhiy, i congratulate you, thank you for being with us today. my greetings, good evening. let's start our conversation. the situation around avdiivka, ukrainian defenders have taken up the defensive near the town of avdiivka, and fighting continues there, and russian troops are now attacking in the direction of the village lastochkina, this is to the west of avdivka, have enough strength for an offensive. this was stated by the deputy commander of the third assault brigade , maksym zhorin, and the pentagon called the withdrawal of ukrainian forces from avdiivka strategic in order to preserve their own artillery and shells, which are critically lacking without help. of the united states of america. let's explain to our viewers what strategic withdrawal means? this means that we left for a short time and

will return there very soon, or is it a strategic withdrawal, we are withdrawing on the defensive, well, will the russians attack again, as it was in the case of zavdiivka? well, you know, uh, in two words, it's hard to explain, you just have to be aware of what a defensive operation is in general, and what the criteria are. the effectiveness of this defensive operation , as long as we can inflict effective damage on the enemy by overwhelmingly destroying the forces attacking our defensive positions, this operation is appropriate, as long as we can secure control over the front line that excludes the possibility of encirclement and the destruction of a large number of our forces and means, such operation is advisable. thus, even based on these two factors, if we talk about the impossibility... of those positions due to the extremely serious impact of the enemy, due to the limited resource resources, due to the threat of the environment, a decision is made to withdraw from the positions

in order to preserve our most valuable resource, it is personnel and equipment and ammunition and all other resources in order to stop the enemy. again, when we talk about the effectiveness of a defensive operation, one of the tasks of a defensive operation is destruction of potential, offensive potential of the enemy. and if the enemy cannot continue to develop offensive actions, then this is also a sign of the success of this operation. right now, yes, we are observing combat operations in the lastochkino area, in the northern area, where the enemy is trying to put pressure on our positions, but this pressure is no longer as powerful as it was, for example, when the enemy attacked avdiivka itself. in this way, we are talking about the fact that we are strengthening our positions and already creating the prerequisites for creation. corresponding fortifications and the development of these fortifications in order to prevent further enemy breakthroughs. yes,

yes, yes, please, strategic withdrawal. that we will soon return, unfortunately, in this situation , no, and the task is not about this, because a breakthrough in this direction requires a colossal effort of strength and means, which we simply do not have physically today. british intelligence says that after the capture of avdiivka, russian forces also need time to re-equip and rest, and in the coming weeks they will try to expand territorial achievements, well, at least the american press writes that these may be several directions where the russians will strike, as far as they have the capabilities now after this operation in audiev , which was quite difficult for the russians, where they lost 47 thousand ee personnel, according to of the general staff of the armed forces of ukraine, to what extent do they have these capabilities?

to what extent they are able to renew themselves and throw new and new forces in order to conquer the ukrainian territory. and when we talked about performance criteria defense operation, i mentioned that the task of a defense operation is to destroy the offensive potential of the enemy, and this is exactly what we are seeing here now, because it is not about the total number of military personnel operating in this direction, the capacity of military units. to conduct hostilities , that is, about the combat capability of military units, and as a result of the losses suffered, the enemy, as we can see, reduced the pace of pressure on our positions precisely on this part of the front, but for the sake of objectivity it is necessary to understand that even 47 thousand destroyed occupiers, this is approximately 10% of the contingent of russian troops fighting in our direction, on the fronts of the ukrainian-russian war, which, accordingly

, indicates that they have certain... resources to carry out offensive actions in other areas of the front , so yes, the avdiiv operation fulfilled its role in the donbas direction, in the donetsk direction, to be specific, but this does not mean that the enemy will not have the opportunity to accumulate additional forces and carry out offensive actions in other areas, and we we can see how overcrowded the situation is now in the area of ​​the robotic platform, we can see how the enemy is concentrating and trying to conduct active operations. actions, so far not as intense as before, but less so, in the area of ​​kupyansk, swativsk, liman direction, i.e. that section of the front, and there is a certain intensification of the enemy's combat operations in the marinka area in the direction of novomykhaivka and further down to kostyantynivka, where the enemy has certain advances in the area of ​​pobeda settlement, therefore the enemy

has certain resources and... the potential for making such separate attempts to carry out offensive offensive actions, not even an operation, offensive actions to gain such tactical advantages. general kyrylo budanov, in an interview with the wall street journal , said that the russians currently do not have enough strength to completely capture and control the donetsk and luhansk regions, and he... says that according to the estimates of the ukrainian side in the war against ukraine has about 590,000 military personnel participating, but these are mostly untrained conscripts, and they need constant, constant replenishment of the army in order to achieve his goal , which was already declared two years ago by vladimir putin, to reach the administrative borders of donetsk and luhansk regions, i

understand that, mr. sergiyuch, over the course of, well, the next few months, well, if even more , the russians will not be able to do this, because even with the limited funding that we have now from the american side, in principle, the armed forces of ukraine are able to deter the invaders, and in general yes , in general yes, and actually, this is what we are talking about spoke, then... that is, when we talk about such terrible numbers of 590, we must understand what i mentioned, 475, approximately, these are those that are directly on the territory of ukraine, a certain contingent is also added here, ah, the rosguards, it is approximately 32, that is , 500,000 is already obtained, and the remaining 90,000 are those who ensure the actions of russian troops in other areas, or they are representatives of the russian navy, the military...