The Russian army has lost its offensive capabilities somewhere

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- What reasons  have  caused you to be engaged in expert activities?

- I grew up in Azerbaijan, the country that in the post-Soviet space is mostly being threatened by its neighbors. For more than 31 years, we have  faced several wars. We  are still  subjected to hybrid threats from our aggressive neighbors. Therefore, even being retired, I want to remain useful to my Motherland.  (At this moment, the air raid alarm was  heard)

- Now,  I am in the city of Odessa, and now, when   the  air raid signal is sounding, I want to ask you,  a military, what is the  reason for shelling civilian targets?

- I can’t say if  there were targeted shelling of civilian by the Russian side, but I can say that the Russian armed forces have serious problems with the quality of weapons that are not capable of accurately hitting targets. Therefore, I cannot say that they are targeted   at the civilian population, thanks to the use of high-precision weapons. But when using non-precision weapons, there is always a “collateral success”.

To compare, the Ukrainian army is effectively destroying military infrastructure with minimal “collateral success” precisely because of high-precision weapons. In addition, the Russian army  is not aware of the situation.

-All the guidance documents in the Russian army are based on the concept of 1939, when the concept of humanism was absentat all. In NATO the commanders are held accountable for losses among the civilian population; but during myentire service term,I have not come across documents that punish the Russian command when planning an operation for “collateral success”.

- I think this is a matter of morality of the command of the army in any country. A  bright example is the Second Karabakh War. The Armenian side delivered ballistic strikes on our cities, but the Azerbaijani army, having  by 2-3 times more firepower, did not fire at the enemy's civilian infrastructure.

- Can such special attacks with the aim of intimidating the civilian population be carried out?

- Compared with our war in 2020, the shelling of peaceful cities ended after we brought down all our firepower on the enemy’s manpower on the front line. If Ukrainians were not frightened by massive shelling in the first 2-3 months of the war, now these actions will only unite society.

- Much is spoken  about the political reasons for the start of this war. Was there any military reason?

- Carl von Clausewitz, a prominent military theorist, said: "War is the continuation of politics by force." Why does  such a desire arise? After several years of  conducting a hybrid war, the Russian leadership has not achieved its goals. And it was decided to force a change of power in Ukraine. First, Russia planned a “special military operation”  which lasted  10 days, and then  changed  into a real war.

- Is it possible to compare the Second Karabakh and Ukrainian wars?

- It is not correct to compare wars. There are always significant differences. What is the  difference  between these two wars?

After the military escalation in Karabakh in 2016, the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan came to the conclusion that it was impossible to win by the methods of previous wars. For six years, advanced military equipment was purchased. And in Karabakh, a war was conducted with elements of a network-centric doctrine. That is, a single information space was created.

Despite the use of modern Western weapons, there is no such information space in the Ukrainian army today, and this is the basis for conducting a fifth generation war. That is, the war in Ukraine  none of the parties  is conducting war in the paradigm of the 21st century!

-Is a second attack on Kyiv possible?

-The Russian army has lost its offensive capabilities somewhere.

-But the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power station (NPS) continues to concern the population of many countries.

-Both sides has  been conducting the political hysteria around the Zaporozhye NPS from  the very outset of the conflict, and I believe that its next round is taking place now.

-What does the term “NATO special operation in Ukraine” mean?

-I believe that this is an increase of the instruments of influence on the war in Ukraine through NATO operations. For example, to share full intelligence information with the Ukrainian side. I think that this is a vector towards the victory of Ukraine, because now the defeat of Ukraine will mean the defeat of NATO...

-It turns out that the "dream" of Russian propagandists about the war with NATO has come true?

- I would like to note that the influence of “television” in Russia will steadily decline in the near future, because the Russian leadership has nothing to provide to its society. As for NATO, it will provide allied assistance, but in the next 2-3 months this alliance is unlikely to actively participate in this military conflict.

- We  have started  our talk about Russian propaganda, and here I want to ask you, how strong is its influence on the population of Azerbaijan?

- In the post-Soviet space, different countries perceive the war in Ukraine at different levels. But I think that in Georgia and Azerbaijan this influence is  minimal.

It has historical roots in our country. On January 20, 1990, tanks shelled people on the streets of Baku, and then, in 1991, we fought not only with Armenia, but also, with the Russian Federation. And everyone in Azerbaijan knows it!

- And now I want to ask you a hard question. Why does Russian propaganda post in the information space videos of tortures of Ukrainian prisoners of war?

- This is an information-psychological operation to put pressure on the population and leadership of Ukraine. Probably, this is one of the levers of influence for entering into negotiations, because the military-political leadership of Russia  badly needs  it.

- We have started to talk about the victims of the war, and I offer a “minute of silence” in memory of all those who died in Karabakh and Ukraine. (a minute of silence)

May ALLAH rest the souls of the dead!

Şəhidlər ölməz, Vətən bölünməz!

- Does Ukraine have the opportunity to suffer fewer losses than the enemy during an offensive, how did Azerbaijan manage to do this in 2020?

-The influence of the Western military school on the planning of operations on the part of Ukraine is clearly visible recently. The Ukrainian army is moving towards this, it is in the progress…

-What is your attitude to the surrender of the defenders of Azovstal?

-There is a “soviet” approach, when people are thrown in batches for slaughter. I think this approach is wrong! Man is a treasure! And the Ukrainian side treated this issue humanely, giving its military the order to surrender.

At the end of our conversation, Agil Rustamzade answered my traditional question.  And we ended the conversation with the most famous phrase of M. E. Rasulzade "Once the flag is raised, it cannot fall!"