Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrogance is growing.
Ukraine is displayed as the savior of the free world rather than a target of Russian aggression. Along with this illusion, Volodymyr Zelensky’s image as a capable leader is becoming more of a misrepresentation than a reality.
For a long time, Mr. Zelensky took it for granted that when he opened his mouth and visited some of his Western allies, they were obliged to provide him with more money, more weapons, and, most importantly, shower him with the compliments of the excellent leader and war strategist. This has, however, become more of a farce than created a picture of a respected and skilled politician.
Zelensky’s background hardly promotes him as a skilled politician or strategist. However, it gives him the skills to entertain and socialize with world leaders. This, in turn, makes his agenda appealing to raise more funds for Ukraine. But what happens when Western politicians raise concerns about the viability of continuing the assistance in the long term?
It is a known fact that no country, regardless, can endlessly continue supporting another country’s defensive and offensive capabilities against the superior enemy. Russia, however, has shown the ability to bounce back from despair to the improved war economy, which can produce its military forces the needed ammunition to continue its operation in Ukraine. Whether the required ammunition is manufactured in Russia or imported from its global partners makes little difference. Russia has what it needs, and according to the latest advances in Ukraine, it is not going to give up – at least not soon. Only time will tell how the conflict will develop and who will show political awareness and geopolitical maturity to end the bloodbath.
Intelligence gathering – only the space is the limit.
Since when has intelligence gathering been the privilege of the few? According to the article in The Atlantic news site, Ukraine’s officials have raised concerns over the satellite imagery Russia is using to target Ukraine’s infrastructure. Ukraine’s government has yet to learn that intelligence gathered globally is a product like any other and will be sold to the highest bidder. Several onsite businesses sell the imagery. It is business as any, and no laws prohibit doing so.
For example, in late 2023, the U.S. DOD and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a U.S.-based space technology corporation to improve intelligence-gathering networks in space. The contract includes a satellite network and imagery management capability. This new system improves the U.S. intelligence-gathering capability exponentially.
However, that hardly means that the collected intelligence data could not be sold to third and even fourth parties operating in surveillance businesses. It is, therefore, somewhat awkward that Mr. Zelensky and his counterparts in Ukraine’s government have raised questions about the origins of the satellite imagery taken from Ukraine’s landscape and infrastructure.
The country that tops the intelligence gathering controls the future battlefields.
The Ukraine war has shown the importance of technology, whether in the form of satellite networks orbiting the Earth or drones surveying military installations and troop movements. Several U.S.-based companies have realized this and developed state-of-the-art systems to give the U.S. military the edge to combat foreign and local threats.
The Ukrainian defense force utilizes advanced systems to plan attacks and countermeasures against encroaching Russian troops and strategize future military operations. The data obtained has played a significant role in successful attacks against enemy troops and infrastructure.
Satellite imagery has existed for many years and is not regarded as a new and revolutionary tool in battlefields. Its ability to accurately pinpoint troop movements and infrastructure makes it useful in modern warfare, where time is of the essence, and countermeasures play an essential role, especially when hunting an opponent’s artillery pieces.
Accusations and paranoia.
Mr. Zelensky has yet to learn that accusing U.S.-based businesses of assisting Russia is bad for business. The U.S. is currently the most generous in providing military aid to Ukraine. The U.S. senators might not like it when U.S. capitalism is under threat and businesses are accused of aiding the enemy and mismanaging intelligence data.
Americans are skilled in creating innovative ways to raise much-needed capital to run businesses and expand to global markets. Unless there is rock-solid proof of misconduct, it would be detrimental to creditability if one of the U.S.-based businesses were accused of aiding Russia.
A few days ago, Niger demonstrated the consequences of diplomatic misbehavior when the U.S. delegation accused Nigerians of dealing improperly with foreign counterparts rival to the U.S. The resulting message to the U.S. was clear and left nothing to be quizzed about – leave the country with immediate effect. If there is something to learn from the incident, Mr. Zelensky must use a more diplomatic approach and political awareness to continue cooperating with Ukraine’s partners. It is not the first time in history that wrongly spoken words have caused irreparable damage to international relations.
