382, all calls to these numbers are free, vote, at the end of the program we will sum up the results of this vote. our first guest is roman kostenko, people's deputy of ukraine, secretary of the verkhovna rada committee on national security, defense and intelligence, colonel of the security service of ukraine. mr. colonel, i congratulate you, thank you for being with us today. good evening, bye. mr. colonel, let's start our conversation with the situation that is developing in... kharkiv oblast, the enemy continues to storm vovchansk throughout in the next two months and will continue to storm while the armed forces of ukraine accumulate forces and means, but the defenders have already begun to receive western ammunition and thanks to this they are holding back the enemy, the commander of the akhiles attack drone battalion, yury fedorenko, said on espresso. let's hear what he said. regarding,

it is essential for the enemy to take it, because it can be a sufficiently successful bridgehead for the further advance to the rear of the grouping of forces of the defense forces, accordingly, the defense forces understand that it is sufficiently powerful and active they are beating the enemy, for the last day the enemy had no tactical success on the battlefield, but the battles in vovchanka are now going very sweetly. mr. colonel, what is putin trying to achieve? army, well, if we say strategically, then for the first time, their main task is, of course, to draw our forces away from the main directions of attack, where they strategically have a goal left, to capture donetsk, luhansk region and its administrative districts, and then, let's say, to create sanitary zone along the territory along the border of ukraine, they still do not have the strength for more, i say once again, this is as of now, that what we see, what...

they have all the forces and means, that is why this operation, of course they hoped for more, they hoped that we would not be able to react normally and let them pass further, their bridgeheads will be large, we will have to do more part of the troops were removed from the main directions, but it was enough , despite the fact that, let's say, everything was not 100% prepared there, the command reacted quickly enough, did the right thing. personnel reshuffles, in principle there, general dropati is an experienced general, who had already taken part in more than one, let's say, more than one battle in the russian-ukrainian war, so i think that this situation and uh so stopped the enemy's offensive, now they are trying to press somewhere in the same vovchansk, but strategically there is no threat, now we need to be more careful, of course along the entire front line, because well... it is difficult

to achieve efficiency, for example, in the east of our country, where there are constant skirmishes, but there are more than there, well, somewhere around 200 km of the border from kharkov to borders with belarus, there, of course, the russians with such forces as in the vovchanchan direction can make provocations or, let's say, capture some territories, settlements, which are near the border. we understand that if we talk about defense, then defense is usually built from the point of view of its expediency, its er, let's say, necessity, precisely its importance in terms of the area, it is tied to the area and not always that will be there to administer our borders, and the enemy understands this, and for him it is important that we do not enter his territory, there, well, let's say, these russian volunteers are from our territory. corps

or russian volunteers, and we putin already spoke about it himself, and their task is to make a defense line on our territory, because we understand that a defense line is , as a rule, territory that may not be returned to use with it, let's say, for the purpose of tens, maybe 50 years, because these are mini-fields, barrier lines, trenches, the presence of personnel there, so the russians also understand that if they do not it will be possible to go further, but still, so that the territory that will be needed, well, let's say, make it unsuitable for life, so that it is our territory, we must understand this and respond adequately, not to allow the russians to gain a foothold in our territories , well, that is , mr. colonel, i understand that putin wants to create a so-called sanitary zone, as he said, and this sanitary zone can

also affect the sumy region, because we understand that the northeastern point of our, our state , it's a mess, well, along with everything the border, as i understand it, up to... up to the donetsk region or wherever they control how much, well, he talked about it, but they wanted deeper, we didn't give it to them in fact, they said there, our intelligence said that they they talked up to 20 km, in some directions up to 50, that is, they wanted a sanitary zone and some more, let's say there are populated areas or some er, some area attracted them there from the point of view of possible economic . there it was better for them to see for themselves what they needed, that is, they did not think it's just that there are about 3 km or five that they will be able to pass, they planned to take such a large strip and make it, let's say , a buffer zone, but ours did not allow it to be done, i hope that in the future

we will keep it the same way, well and you can mutually make the same buffer zone only on that side, if it comes to that, well, that's how it should be done, see. when putin talked about this sanitary zone and the russians are trying to create it, then obviously they are calculating, or not calculating, they are trying to avoid the actions of such units as the rdk on the territory of the russian federation, but if we have long-range weapons and our western partners allow us to use them on the territory of the russian federation, then obviously this is the story with the sanitary zone, well , it will not be alive for the russians, because the same on the other hand, as i said, it will be possible to create a sanitary zone, now there is a discussion about whether to give permission to ukraine to hit american weapons on the territory or not, and the new york times

writes that after a sobering trip, as they write to kyiv, state secretary anthony blinken calls on president joe biden to lift the restrictions, although during a hearing in the... committee on foreign affairs of the house of representatives of the united states of america, blinken evasively answered the question of whether the biden administration plans to cancel the ban on the use of american weapons on the territory of the russian federation. let's hear what the secretary of state of the united states of america said. we rallied 50 countries to ensure the defense of ukraine and provided it with the weapons necessary to defend and repel russian aggression. regarding the provision. authorization and approval of attacks outside of ukraine, we have not done that, but ukraine will have to make its own decisions, and i want to make sure that it gets the equipment it needs to defend itself effectively. mr. colonel, the fact that

ukraine will have to make these decisions on its own, can this be considered blinken's hints that such a decision exists, but how will the ukrainian leadership decide? so it will be, i think, no, i don't think so, i think what blinkin is saying on the air is probably more about the message signals in the same russian federation, and show that they are, shall we say, determined, but still, in order to know whether we can strike or not, you need to know from their conversations from the sidelines, unfortunately, i do not know how it ended a conversation with the president, they probably talked about it, i think to strike... or not, not to strike, this will be a question that has not been specifically voiced now, if they wanted, they would have directly said: ukraine can strike, but now, let's put it this way, to ukraine's decision, but it can always be said that ukraine did not accept it decision, so i think everything depends on the agreements that were reached between the president

there and er blinken on the sidelines, which are agreements, maybe not yet, but then they will allow it, and maybe the question will allow it, it is really up to us it hurt hands and we could be protected from such actions of the russian federation, because russia now has trump cards, they have the opportunity to create strike groups on their territory, to bring them somewhere close to the border, when we cannot hit them there and then attack them, if our intelligence will detect them, for example, at the time of their formation or at the time of their formation in columns to advance to our side, we can really hit them even there in beilogorodsky ... some other, let's say, some areas, preventing them from moving at all -e to our borders, and this, of course, will free our hands, and it will give us the opportunity to keep reserves less on the borders, and to use them directly on the contact line, where active hostilities are taking place, therefore

, if such a direct permission was such and officially, i think it would make us stronger, i won't say that this is a turning point in the war or something, but it would make us stronger, but we always also... have to be prepared for the consequences, because we see when we strike, the russians, they strike back, we, i don't i say that we should not do this, but we always have to... think through all the ways that we apply, and immediately we have to strengthen our ppu there, immediately we have to strengthen our positions, disperse our troops, because the russians, unfortunately, if it weren’t there, and the possibilities for missile attacks are greater, because they make them themselves, but on perspective, we need to complete our own sapsan complex, which, if available, in terms of its tactics, technical... characteristics, is not inferior to, but better than, iskander, and i think that when the first

missiles will fly towards the enemy, the russians will understand that this will be the beginning of this era of containment, when the russians will already think before letting something go our way. well, by the way, the speaker of the lower house of the congress of the united states of america, mike johnson, who contributed to the fact that the decision on allocation. help us it took time, now he supports allowing ukraine to hit the russian federation with american weapons, let's hear what mike johnson said. i think we should allow ukraine to wage the war as they see fit, they should have the ability to strike back, and i think the fact that we 're trying to micromanage that effort is not right for. mr. colonel, taking into account the pace of the supply of

western weapons to ukraine and the lack of airplanes in the sky of ukraine so far and the lack of sufficient anti-aircraft systems, what can you say, the west deliberately restrains ukraine from having all these means of destruction. russian troops and in this way tries to prevent ukraine from actions that could harm the same united states of america or france or germany? it is difficult to explain their logic, we are probably fighting with their enemy, well, at least in the middle to the end of the 20th century, yes, they took part in the second world war together, but in principle they had an ideology... let's say at that time, the russians were basically the same as and

well, practically, but it was called differently , and then they were allies, after which there was the cold war, and in principle, they were enemies, now there is an opportunity to destroy the russian potential - let's say without using the personnel of nato countries, and i'm having a hard time with myself. explain why they don't do it, here i am, as a military person, as a person from the special services, i understand that this is the chance that is out there, which may not be there tomorrow, especially, well, we understand how many countries we have helped in our time united states, trying to keep this or that region in the sphere of influence, well, let's say, not that in the sphere of influence, in the sphere of democratic influence, that is, democracy, yes they, we remember vietnam, from which they left there, yes, korea is also there . there you can discuss negotiations, negotiations, the same

afghanistan, and many countries, other iraq, the same one, where they tried to throw in just crazy resources there, gave a lot of weapons, but as a result , the dictatorship won there, and they gave more there, and those who seized power after that made much less effort there, here, ukraine is probably the only one that has shown that it is really fighting. but, let's say this, for real, and she is not going to give up, but our partners are grazing here, i am not saying that they do not give, i am very grateful to them for the help that finally started to arrive, of course, a lot of time was lost and our territories lost, but let's say, it's difficult to explain to me, as a military person, a person with an understanding of the strategy that is happening there from our point of view, geopolitical, why they do that, i think, who are they afraid of... from others consequences, because really, for us , our war is the center of everything, and we

invest in it, for them, of course, the geopolitical schedules are a little different, and i think that they are betting on several directions at once, that is why they are trying so , let's say, well, to maneuver, but well, it's difficult for me to explain, because i'm here now with you in this dense event, i think only this. because, well, they have the opportunity, and they, and even more so, europe, would have the opportunity to provide us with their opportunities, if they wanted russia to at least already stopped to advance there and its potential was destroyed, the elementary things i am talking about, which do not require their direct intervention in hostilities, but could put the russian federation in its place and show the whole world what kind of peace they are in europe, and they influence something, i have already said many times, i once submitted a resolution about the closed sky, back in

the 21st year before the start of the war, i asked to close the sky, and everyone treated it like that, sometimes even skeptically. and what is a closed sky, how is that possible? well, israel showed how it is perhaps when iran was striking him. now i was shocked when france, for example, declares that we can send our soldiers to ukraine. britain is there, and some right-wing people do not rule it out either, there, they do not deny it. i would see it, well, we know that there are many patriot systems in europe, there are the same poles who will be next... or other nato countries, well, in the depths of ukraine to a depth of about 50 km, i am in their place, globally, if they think globally and want to remain players, at least, at least on level of europe, and to be reckoned with in the world, to install patriot systems and say: look, we are not entering the war, but our

task is to shoot down every russian missile that flies at a civilian object of ukraine. if these are not trenches there on the front line, and we will shoot down every missile that comes closer than 100 km to the border of, let's say, ukraine, well, and eu countries, and this is not an entry into the war, it is really a declaration of protection of the european countries that are in the european union and the protection of the ukrainian civilian population, this it's normal, and it seems to me that it's right, and i don't know if the russian... federation bypassed it and did some kind of protest to them because of it, i don't know the notes of protest, it's very difficult to do, because these are normal declarations, and from this you can to start going further and further and further, because look at kharkiv, which, by the way , you had on the air, this is precisely the issue of russia striking civilian objects, the whole of europe is watching, so you can take

such steps, i don't know why they don't make them, it's fear or some sick game there diplomacy, but the fact that they... don't do it, well, history, at least, won't forgive it. from a technical and legal point of view, colonel, the polish authorities are already considering the possibility of involving the country's air defense systems in shooting down russian missiles over ukrainian territory near the borders. this was announced by the spokesman of the polish ministry of foreign affairs, pawel wronski. we know that zelensky has already announced a visit to france and will also consider the issue of closing the sky there, at least in the western part of our country. so we will wait for this decision, and myself end of our conversation, i would like to ask how you assess the current situation with mobilization in ukraine. on may 18 , the law on making changes to the mobilization procedure, as well as the registration of conscripts, entered into force. you, as the secretary of the specialized committee, what would you say about how

satisfied you are with both the parliament and the military leadership. by the changes and pace at which conscripts are now registered, or are being registered there, updating data in the tsc, including through the reserve plus application. see, i've posted your question on two pleasures: this is the result and the process. i am not satisfied with the process, for example, because , let's say, a lot of cool things have been done, here is the ministry of defense, this reserve, but i have a lot of questions, especially. to military officers, when it happens now, when people come to update, for example, data even for reservations, who work in the defense-industrial complex, and they are taken away, and you have to talk with representatives there, explain the importance, the benefits of many normal, adequate people who go to meet, but at the same time they have, say, to

they may have questions, but they, let's say, see strategically, some are no longer seen by managers. the tsk do not see beyond their tsk and there is a soldier in a trench, they do not see that this soldier needs to build a drone or make a projectile, because if we drive everyone into the trenches, then tomorrow there will be nothing to shoot at, and this is the problem, this is what we today, by the way, we had a committee, and we solved this problem, now we have collected the issues, including these i raised, we submit them as proposals to the government, they have to fix it, and the result, well, i'll tell you , what... according to my information, the result now exceeds all expectations, but as of the last time, i will not name the numbers, but these are the largest, probably, i don't know. well, i won’t say since when, but probably within a year, so the result is really there, and it makes me happy, well

, that is, we expected much less, but we got much more, that’s right, i don’t think that we expect, we always expect more, but now there is a question of , that due to the fact that people came to update and people understood some rules there, and sometimes, when, let's say, they took those who were needed, that is, let's say... the number of people, now we need to make them quality, and now it is necessary to regulate that those people who are needed for the defense industrial complex for the operation of critical infrastructure, all - still they remained, because , well, it is possible, let's say, once again, to push everyone into the trenches and be left without ammunition, without weapons and without the economy. thank you, colonel, for the conversation, it was roman kostenko, people's deputy of ukraine. colonel of the security service of ukraine. friends, we continue to work live on the espresso tv channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms, for those who are currently

watching us live there. please subscribe to our pages and also take part in our polls. today we ask you about whether you are ready for an increase in electricity prices. yes, no, everything is quite simple on youtube, if you have a separate opinion about the tariffs, about the fact that this tariff can change. in connection with the fact that there is not enough electricity, there were blackouts in ukraine, please write to in the comments, if you watch us on tv, pick up your smartphone or phone and vote if you are not ready for electricity price increases 0.800 if you are ready 0800 211 381 if you are not ready 0.800 211 382 all calls to these numbers are free , vote, at the end of the program we will sum up the results of this vote. next, we have vitaly kulyk, director of the center for researching civil society problems. mr. vitaly, i congratulate you and thank you for joining our broadcast. i congratulate

you. let's start our conversation with in the last few days, during which we, in the verkhovna rada, have been watching these events, it seems that a separate part of the people's deputies is trying to regain subjectivity. parliament and yet the center of decision-making should be moved from bankova street to hrushevsky street, taking into account the fact that this is a parliamentary-presidential republic. the two issues that the representatives of european solidarity demanded to be put to a vote were the creation of the tsk on fortifications and consideration in the second reading of the bill on... on the banning of the orthodox church in ukraine, the first issue was voted on, the second, in early june, the verkhovna rada will consider, and before considering this

draft law, at the request of the monomajority, the people's elected officials must collect 240 signatures, the collection is conducted by both the ruling party and the opposition, let's see what the representatives and the opposition say , and the authorities, gather several factions, ours gathered. more than 100, 120, 120, the process continues, other factions are also collecting votes, our task, it was the wish of the majority faction, to collect more than 240 votes, because then they will be convinced that this law will pass, we will all vote yes, and many opposition factions too, they are worried that it will look bad if half the ruling faction does not vote, i don't think this process will end this week, i think it will take a little more time, because now there are many colleagues in the same line. on a business trip, and they have to do it personally, but it is definitely more than, well, more than 150 signatures, mr.

vitaly, stefanchuk says that there is no place for political discussion in the parliament during the war, there should be a political discussion, like you look at the attempt to return to the subjectivity of the parliament? i don't see anything wrong with the subjectivity of the parliament, because it was really rightly said, after all, we are a parliamentary-presidential republic, and it is obvious that the parliament has a major role in the formation of politics, and not all politics should belong to the banks, although of course we we understand that there is a commander-in-chief who determines policy, military, and defense policy, but on the other hand, there are a number of issues that still fall within the competence of the verkhovna rada, the majority of the verkhovna rada. in particular, the cabinet of ministers is responsible and reports to the verkhovna rada, so i see nothing wrong with the parliament's subjectivity, the parliament

should be a subject. in any case , of course, the bank may not like it, because it thinks that now the parliament should vote like a carbon copy, like a serax, all the decisions that are generated by the banks, that's another story, but in the grand scheme of things, the parliament should play a role, in particular, parliamentary control over the defense sector, the security sector and efforts to keep one's hand on course economic processes, in particular the mobilization of the economy, is the task of the parliament. and the fact that the presidential majority is trying to prevent the implementation of all these possibilities for parliamentary control, this seems to me to be the main problem. parliament, despite all the crisis nature within it, certain problems exist in the majority, i am not talking about the fact that there is no more than a majority, but there is a situational majority. plus satellites, but

so far they vote, well, more or less successfully, although a whole package of legislative ones acts are not postponed, or are not brought into the hall, certain problems are created for introduction, for consideration, artificial obstacles are placed for introduction into the hall, if there is no consensus of different groups that vote. to the servants of the people in certain issues, these are already certain signs of a political crisis, but at the moment it can be said that after the turmoil with the military command, after the adoption of the law on mobilization and a number of personnel appointments, the parliament postponed in time the solution to the problems that had accumulated within the majority , postponed time and decision of wishes

ally. of the same servant of the people party, their faction, but this does not mean that this issue has been removed at all, it is not closed on the contrary, it is simply invested in time, and the tension, it is increasing in the parliament, and perhaps almost all deputies confirm this , that sooner or later the parliament will come to terms with the crisis, and then the servants will have problems with effective voting, at the moment they have ... the result of the vote, the parliament should finally return subjectivity, and part of the policy that should be generated by competence , by the constitutions assigned to the competence of the parliament should be returned there, not the consecration of voting, produced somewhere in the bank, on the sidelines of bank decisions or legislative initiatives, but directly the draft laws that are developed for the deputies

through... these laws concern, because now the main problem of the law-making activity, in my opinion, is that actually from this work, work by stakeholders, work with those who will be, whose work, whose life will be regulated by these legislative initiatives, precisely these stakeholders, they are precisely eliminated, it was for mobilization, it was with a number of economic laws that were simply ignored or imitated. i believe that if we talk about the subjectivity of the parliament, it is precisely the return of the discussion, the return of the process of making certain decisions in the parliament, and not a descent somewhere from the side, and the involvement of stakeholders, directly those who are affected by these laws. and you said that there might well be a political crisis, but how, in short, how can one survive this political crisis when the

country cannot... hold parliamentary and presidential elections? well, we understand that it is impossible not to hold elections forever. we do not know when the war will end, but there is a time lag in everything, when society can accept and recognize the risks of existence, the possibility of holding elections, but it cannot last forever. this is the first question, that is , there should be some reasonable time interval from which it will be allowed to move according to the inertia of the political process, and then one way or another the issue of elections will arise, even during martial law, this is the first position, the second position if we are talking about reformatting and there acquisition by parliament its subjectivity, as well as the redistribution

of power in favor of the government. for the parliament from the bank