"They are preparing for war not only with Ukraine": Major Hetman explains whether the tactics of the Russian army will change with the new defense minister. Video

The Russian military threat is becoming more and more obvious to the world. Dictator Vladimir Putin wants to mobilize the country's economy for a long-term war. This is evidenced by recent personnel rotations, such as the resignation of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and the appointment of Andrey Belousov and others.

This was stated by military expert, veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Major in the reserve Oleksiy Hetman in the OBOZ.Talk podcast. He emphasized that Russian tactics in the war in Ukraine will not change due to these personnel rotations, as the Russian General Staff and the Ministry of Defense are engaged in different activities.

"The Minister of Defense is a managerial position. And Shoigu was supposed to manage the provision of everything necessary for the armed forces. Replacing Shoigu with a person who is more versed in economic issues of procurement is an indication that they want to shift the economy to a more military oriented track. This really means that they are preparing for a long war," noted Hetman.

The change in the General Staff command will have a direct impact on the frontline in Ukraine. The structure can be headed by Surovikin or Gerasimov, and both candidates are "no better or worse" than each other.

"Gerasimov is a more academic person. This is hybrid warfare, hybrid warfare tactics, the use of information components - he has written several "scientific" papers on this subject and is more or less familiar with it. Surovikin is a more practical person. Let's just see how it will affect the frontline," noted Hetman.

But the decision on the named criminals will be made a little later, depending on what happens at the front. The expert notes that the actions of the Russians have already been determined.

"They will try to put pressure along the entire frontline to stretch our defense and achieve some success, some reinforcement. Of course, they will have tactical successes, because there has never been a time in the history of wars when an advancing army has not advanced anywhere. But we hope that these will be only tactical, not strategic successes. And depending on how well they manage to do what they have planned, a decision will be made about the command," said Hetman.

The expert clarified that the invaders are planning not only a war in Ukraine, but also attacks on other countries.

"Our friends and allies in Europe are beginning to realize this: it is quite possible that the Russians will try to press on, try to attack a NATO country to test how well Article 5 of the Alliance's charter works," the major emphasized.

This article guarantees the defense of any NATO country by all the Alliance's forces. However, it does not explicitly state that all other countries must participate in hostilities at once. Hetman suggests that the Kremlin "wants to see how it will work."

The expert is confident that Russia will attack the NATO bloc "not in the same way as in Ukraine. And how exactly - there are many scenarios, from the use of "little green men" to internal provocations.

"For example, a private military company attacked a Baltic country, Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia. Against whom should the armed forces of NATO countries be used? It's a private military company, not Russia, not Belarus, not anyone else. I am sure they will definitely try to do this. Unfortunately, we will see it," says Hetman.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russia is already recruiting extremists in the West. With the help of far-right extremists, Russia plans to carry out a series of terrorist attacks in the UK and NATO countries. Currently, terrorists are being recruited by "secret officers of the Russian military intelligence and mercenaries of the Wagner Group".

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