Ex-Commander Zaluzhnyi Highlights Innovations as Key to Ukraine’s Resilient Defense Strategy

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2021–2024, emphasized that the implementation of innovations is a key part of Ukraine's strategy of sustained resistance in the war against Russia, allowing it to compensate for the lack of resources and inflict disproportionate losses on the enemy.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to The Mirror of the Week.
Zaluzhnyi stresses that the rapid development of technologies, their practical testing, and scaling enable Ukraine to seize the technological initiative and exert increasing pressure on Russia.
“It is obvious that innovation will lead to the implementation of a strategy of sustainable resistance in conditions of, if not constant war, then constant hostility,” he said, adding that for this, Ukraine needs to develop a comprehensive innovation policy.
To this end, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive strategy for the development of advanced defense technologies at the state level, where scientific support, production, and operation of solutions will be clearly coordinated, and the responsibilities of each entity will be defined in advance.
Zaluzhnyi pays particular attention to attracting and mobilizing specialists, primarily in the field of software, which is necessary for the development, integration, and support of the latest solutions.
Among the key challenges, he highlights access to microprocessors, as the concentration of production capacity in a few regions of the world, such as China, Taiwan, and the US, creates significant geopolitical risks and affects the stability of the supply of critical components.
At the same time, Zaluzhnyi also advises making maximum use of the already available opportunities for exporting defense technologies to form security alliances and attract the technological and scientific potential of Western partners, in particular institutions such as CERN.
"Ukraine's victory today means depriving Russia of the opportunity to impose its conditions through war. This is the minimum program for survival," he emphasized.
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