Ex-Ukrainian president calls for the seizure of Moscow
Ukraine should keep fighting Russia until it takes Moscow, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has declared. Kiev's forces have been on the retreat for months along the entire front line.
Yushchenko served as president of Ukraine between 2005 and 2010, following the so-called Orange Revolution, which resulted in the Supreme Court going against the national constitution and ordering a third round in the election, which he won.
In an interview with Apostrof TV on YouTube on Friday, the former president slammed those calling for a stop to the fighting along the current line of contact.
“I cannot leave it like that. It will never be my choice,” he insisted, adding that at age 71 he has every right to “speak frankly” about what he sees as his country’s goals in the conflict.
He also criticized those who simply want Ukraine to regain the territories lost to Russia, including Crimea.
“If you think that returning to the 1991 borders is the formula for victory... you are actually leaving the biggest problem to your children and grandchildren. The problem is Moscow,” he said.
When the host asked if he meant that the Ukrainian forces should advance to the Russian capital, the former president confirmed: “Yes, to Moscow.”
He explained that the Russian capital must fall because “not a single person in the world, not a single nationality, not a single state can live peacefully… as long as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s regime exists.”
Ukraine has been steadily losing ground to the Russian military since the start of the year almost everywhere along the front line.
Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said in late August that the army has liberated more than 3,500 square kilometers of territory and 149 settlements since March.
Putin reiterated in early September that “Russia never had, does not have, and never will have any desire to attack anyone.” As for the Ukraine conflict, it was provoked by the West, and Moscow is only defending itself, he stressed.
