«Definitely not»: Kim disagrees with Marchenko about Russia's plans to advance south

The head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim categorically disagrees with General Dmytro Marchenko that Russia may try to seize the south of Ukraine again.

He said this in an interview with the «News Factory» project.

It should be noted that recently Dmytro Marchenko in an interview with Dmytro Gordon expressed the opinion that Russia has not given up the south of Ukraine, and the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation seeks to cut us off from the Black Sea.

«As a military man, I was always taught to expect the worst and hope for the best. Therefore, I will say that the Russian leaders did not give up the south of Ukraine. I think that they will still try to recreate that plan of capture and cut us off from the Black Sea. This is a strategic task for them. Therefore, I still think that we should prepare for the fact that they will go and reproduce their plan to seize the south. Therefore, while we still have time, I think that our military leadership should make the right decision and build three lines of defense now, in order to create conditions that would make it impossible for them to advance — even a couple of kilometers — forward,» said Dmytro Marchenko.

Vitalii Kim and Dmytro Marchenko, 2022.

Vitalii Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, on the contrary, believes that Russia currently does not have the capabilities to implement this plan.

«First of all, I will remind the audience that General Marchenko never led the defense of the south. Let's put an end to this. He is my friend, he helped the Armed Forces and our team to defend the south. Therefore, you should not take his word for it, this is his personal opinion, not as a military man. He has no information about the capabilities of the forces and means of the Russian Federation — he has even less of it than I do. If I do not allow myself to comment on this situation, he does not have the right either. It is my opinion. He is my friend, I understand what he meant, but Infopole took it from the other side. Apparently, he said that theoretically Russia has such capabilities thanks to its capabilities, but Russia always has them, but does it plan to do it physically in the near future? Definitely not. We see all the preparations, movements of the enemy. And in order to talk about it, the Russians need at least two or three months. That's why it won't happen in the next two or three months,» said Vitalii Kim.

It should be noted that Dmytro Marchenko, according to official documents, led the defense of Mykolaiv at the beginning of the full-scale war. In particular, at the beginning of March 2022, he was appointed the military commandant of Mykolaiv. Dmytro Marchenko also managed the forces and means of the Mykolaiv tactical group. The operational area of this group is a large part of the Mykolaiv region, where active hostilities took place.

Last year, in another interview, Dmytro Marchenko told how the defense of Mykolaiv was structured. He said that Vitalii Kim «took the civilian direction of defense» into his hands, and the general himself was a military one.

Also, after the transfer of Dmytro Marchenko from Mykolaiv in April 2022, Vitalii Kim noted that the general fulfilled his task «perfectly».