Around avdiyivka. Oleksiy hetman, military analyst, veteran of the russianukrainian war, has already joined our broadcast. Good evening oleksiy. Good evening military observers, in particular kostyantyn mashovyts, as well as oleksandr grabskyi, today write and say that north of avdiyivka the russian army broke through to the railway and allegedly took control of the terikon position and that the fighting is already going on, but mashovets in particular claims that the fighting is already going on at andriivskyi. To avdiivskoye koksokhim, what does this mean for the understanding of civilians and what scenarios are possible next . Well, there were two such important places in avdiivka, this tericon, it is a commanding height with which it is convenient to cover with unmanned aerial vehicles, conduct surveillance, sniper work, this is obviously the morning of the fortress, there are one and a half meter walls, there are many underground. Communications, which we know very well, which we can use, so these two cities, they can be considered so important for the maintenance of this city itself, avdiyivka, the report that the russians captured the tyricon, well, they appeared this morning, then , this was refuted, that they do not control it, well, if this information appeared again, again, closer to the evening, then we have to wait, because, well, they already said about it once, i am not sure that this information is true even if yes, yes, yes, please, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, please, yes, yes, well, firstly, this is not good, and secondly, well, this does not mean that our parts need to be removed, because the cokechemical plant is a powerhouse a powerful fortification, a fortified city, and well, that means without terikone, we will keep the defense there for the time being, talks about the need to withdraw the troops from avdiyivka, so far such, such, such orders, well, there have been no such and such orders, and the people there are Still Holding the defense, no, we have not heard of such orders for sure and no one has really stated this, but it is possible to explain in more detail, what kind of terekon is this, am i correct in understanding that it is the most, the highest point on the outskirts, the most, well, the highest point, the highest point, it s a slag, which, well, everyone, everyone knows what trikons are, in donetsk region, its, well from a Military Point of view, i mean, what significance does it have, well, its just a dominant height , with which, well, with which, ill repeat myself, you can control unmanned aerial vehicles, because it depends on, well, from this city, you can further them to control, because there for the time being, well, to the horizon line, the higher we are and or the higher the uav is, the farther this distance is, there are even formulas that can be used to calculate how much and what distance you can go, well , what is the distance to the horizon line, well, so that it is clear that if we stand on the seashore, then from our average height , then the valley of the horizon is 4. 5 km, at 5 km you wont see what is there, what is there, and for example, if there are some clouds at a not very high altitude, then after 5 km you wont be able to. Maybe to manage, because it will be outside the borders, at the expense of the carriage land, well, because the higher the drone, the higher the operator who controls it, the of course, then there is a very simple formula by which you can calculate how far you can go, well, the signal goes, the signal is electromagnetic, and no , it does not bend, well, that is , it bends beyond the horizon line, well, partially it can, but by a small percentage , well, how can flashlights shine around a corner, he cant. It cant shine like that even behind the line, thats why its important, plus, you can see the enemys actions, and of course, you can conduct sniping and combat and direct fire. Thats why its the ruling height, thats what i understand now none of the parties has absolute control over this commanding height, most likely because there were reports that it had already been captured by the russians, they even made some pictures in photoshop somewhere that their flags are there, they this, they, they actually installed these small flags there, that is, i understand that some small groups made their way, and today there was a video of how ukrainians were attacked by drones, here we show it, its not photoshop, im knocking, they knocked down these flags, well, maybe, maybe thats the case, maybe there was some kind of jerk, thats it again this terikon is not a small mountain, it is big, it is big and maybe partly they have gathered here, well, to say that they control it, that is for sure, well, do you see now the risk surrounding avdiyivka, the risk, the risk was there from the very beginning of the offensive actions, because they planned offensive actions precisely from the north and from the south, to seize and deplete avdiivka, and were preparing and strengthening their positions on the flanks, so theoretically there is such a possibility, but the further they advance in depth, around avdi, with such thin pincers, the more dangerous these ticks become for themselves the russians, because they can also be cut off and sharpened two groups can be sharpened with blows from the sides, so here it fell in the ends. How, for now, is hypothetical, of course, but the potential loss of avdiyvka can make a difference. On the front, how important is this point, about it, the institute of war research said about it, British Intelligence analyzed it, for the russians, this is not a military task, but a political one, well , a political one, there was a political, political order to capture this audio girl, well since the plan is to release, as they say, the russians to on january 1, in donetsk and luhansk region, maybe within the territorial limits, well, our regions, from a Military Point of view, well, this is a bridgehead from which i can see that donetsk can be shelled, so the russians will shell it with artillery, no one has shelled it, but there is such a possibility , and the russians have not built any such powerful military facilities there, hubs of any kind, because they know that it is under control, well, it is under the control of our artillery, well, avdiivka has been a bone in the throat for the russians since the 14th year, they constantly tried to surround, now, well not surround, capture, now, the number of troops , well, forces and means that have been thrown, over the past nine years, will this have a significant effect on the Eastern Front, well, we already call it the Eastern Front, this is the distance, this is the front from kupinsk to ugledar, its 1000 km, well, about what they say, they said, well, the institute of research, intelligence, what is the essence. It will not affect the front strategically, it is still a political decision, just like bakhmut, they fought there, killed tens of thousands of people, essential changes on the front line, the Eastern Front line, this is not that did not happen, the same with avdiivka, it is a pity if you have to leave this city, but once again this, well no. You can say that nothing will change, this the loss of our city, but this is not some turning point in the war, nothing like that, very terrible, from the city, as i understand it, well , our colleagues were there, there is little left, only one name, because very avdiivka is badly destroyed and there are such assumptions that the Russian Military can turn it into the second marinka, also a destroyed ukrainian city. Oleksiy, i have one more question, and it is not about avdiivka, allow me the last one, here is this massive. Attack on khmelnytskyi, in the city of slavuta, the mayor just joined us, there were dozens of damaged houses, there was some, he said , a big explosive wave, why Russian Troops have been attacking khmelnytskyi for days in a row, what attracts them there, relatively speaking, yes, there are, there are certain military facilities that are located nearby, well, i think that we will not to discuss on the air, it is, well, with the air forces and we, well, this is an attempt , oh, from our antiaircraft, this is an attack on energy facilities, training, attacks on energy facilities, checking our air defense equipment, they planned, at the beginning of the cold weather, to make attacks deep into the country , they are now looking for cracks in our air defense systems, where they think it will be possible to fly not. To powerful attacks, look, our country has not had missile attacks since october 2, it has been almost a month, this is a bad sign, because it means what they are accumulating, they will not come up with, they are accumulating rockets, it is quite possible that soon we will see, well, quite powerful missile attacks, unfortunately. Thank you very much for joining our broadcast, oleksiy hetman, military analyst, veteran of the russianukrainian war, we talked about the famous attack and also, of course, follow the events around avdiyivka, thank you very much. A decision on the possible holding of elections in ukraine during martial law can be made after studying similar experiences in other countries. This is what the chairman of the verkhovna rada, ruslan stefanchuk, said. Let me remind you that the president ial elections in ukraine are scheduled should take place in the spring of 2024. Volodymyr zelenskyy stated that if they take place during a fullscale war, he will take part in them. Parliamentary elections were supposed to take place in the fall of 20. 23. We have five, six very important problems that we have to solve. The first question is how to ensure the right to voting of our servicemen, and this is not only the right to vote, but also the right to be elected to government bodies. The second question. These are our refugees, of whom today there are about 7 million outside ukraine. The third important question is how we should organize elections in the temporarily occupied territories. The fourth issue is, of course, the financing of elections. The fifth question is the question of elections it is the possibility of free access to the media. Svitlana matvienko, executive director of the laboratory of legislative initiatives, has already joined our broadcast. Svetlana, my greeting. Good evening, and you are with us. For the first time, so i am glad to welcome you twice, ruslan stefanchuk, he said that the decision on the possible holding of elections during the war can be made after ukraine, so to speak, takes an interest in the experience of other countries. Objectively, to whom and for what experience could stefanchuk or the ukrainian authorities in general turn . Ah, thank you for the invitation, look, the thing is, he said that he would approach the partners about the issue. Whether they even held elections during the war and if carried out, how effectively or ineffectively they succeeded, in fact, i think that there is no similar experience with such a scale of occupied territories and such a method of conducting military operations in the situation ukraine is in, and i do not know who can give experience, which we can implement very successfully, i think it will be developed completely. Again and it will be a postwar election, at least we stand on this, that it should be a postwar election, but we cannot but rule out that more and more can, can such narratives sound that ukraine needs to be confirmed as a democracy, that elections must be held despite the war, we have already heard this, we can assume that if elections are held there in the United States, then in russia some action will take place, which in russia will be called elections, in ukraine more and more often. Will, so to speak, arrive with such ideas as to what the ukrainian authorities could then do, so that, conditionally speaking, elections are not held, because it is very difficult, to put it mildly, during the war, but at the same time, to leave no doubts about the stability of democracy in ukraine . Well, first of all, i want to say that the most important thing is not the fact of Holding Elections, but the legitimacy of this process and the legitimacy of the elected bodies that will be elected during these elections, and also the maintenance of a stable state in the country, because if elections are held in ukraine now during the war, in my opinion and in the opinion of many experts, we will face a very big destabilization. The main thesis that i would like to convey to you is that Holding Elections is not equal to democracy and is not is equal to a democratic process, because as you have already noted, in the Russian Federation and in belarus, for example, elections are held, but this is more of a formal tick than real democratic. Elections , and currently part four of article 83 of the constitution of ukraine directly prohibits holding these elections, and i do not think that the holding of elections can indicate a high, high level of democracy or the legitimacy of the government, on the contrary, we can show the level of our democracy, but only by correctly organizing all the processes and Holding Elections after the war, and then, i think, it will take quite a long time, 68 months, this is already after the end of the war and after the state of emergency ends, so in the conditions of the narrowing of rights. Freedoms, and the conditions of war are exactly that the narrowing of rights and freedoms, we cannot hold elections that require the observance and expansion of these rights, because first of all, we have a very large military, this Million People, we have 7 Million People who are abroad according to rough estimates , and what will we do with them, as they will be to vote, how will we ensure free political competition, how will we ensure access to freedom of speech in the conditions of a unified information maraf and political competition itself, great, so now i believe that the state should prepare a plan for postwar elections, Political Parties should work on to have our own programs and be ready to conduct this competition, our international partners, for whose support we are sincerely grateful and without which it would be impossible for us to continue the war now, and they must continue, provide it more and more and rather, so that the victory would happen faster, and then the elections will take place, i am very interested, and what are the approximate time periods we are talking about, we can assume that if, conditionally speaking , the war will continue for another year, two, three, five, seven, then well, we have to be prepared for the fact that there will be no elections during this time, and first of all, there is a survey of ukrainian citizens, and the people are ready, they are fully, well, at least at the level of the surveys that are being conducted now, they fully perceive the government. Legitimate, and i think people feel that the election, they will bring terrible destabilization, because there cannot be free political competition, free political criticism, how to criticize, for example, the president , who at the same time is the commanderinchief during the war, well, it is very difficult for me to imagine how to compete in such conditions, too, it s impossible, we simply wont be able to ensure all rights, voting rights, and thats exactly what the election set. Question their legitimacy, their democracy, and it is very important for us that the world recognizes these elections and recognizes them, as always admitted, because it was precisely in 2004 and 2014 that we fought for standards and for election standards, including, let me just add that here is the sociological survey you refer to, it seems that more than 60 of ukrainians said that they dont want elections to be held during then i have the following question do you personally see any signs of pressure from the west on ukraine to hold elections during the war . Personally , i dont think theres much pressure yet, because if you look at the statements, ah of our partners who have been talking about this, and if you look more closely at their biographies, sometimes it comes down more to prorussian narratives and simply. The stimulation of this discussion, which shows very unhealthy trends in a society that is under stress and in a state of war , and therefore it seems to me that all partners, even those who allocate large amounts of money, treat this with great understanding, and i will also remind you that elections are extremely expensive, according to preliminary estimates, Holding Elections, now Holding Elections in ukraine requires close 514 million dollars, and these are approximate estimates, and we have to invest all the funds in the victory, and it seems to me that spending the taxpayers funds of other countries to hold elections now is also very irresponsible, impractical and unethical, the last question, it already applies postwar period and when the elections will be held, here i will also show you a sociological survey of the Razumkov Center , maybe it is even the same survey that you mentioned, so there it is said that more than half of ukrainians, 51 , are ready entrusting the power in the country to the military in the postwar period is a very natural, perhaps , trend, but from your point of view, does it look like a worrying trend to you, or is it still a positive one . I believe that this trend simply will not become a reality, but because we already had a situation similar to the past in the penultimate elections, when also on the wave, when the occupation of crimea took place and the war began, in the east, we also received a lot of troops in parliament, but they were scattered across different Political Parties, the same story was with the volunteers, i think this time everything will happen in approximately the same way, and what is this trend, it is neither positive nor negative for me, in the conditions of war , people who defend their country and defend the state, they are unconditional heroes, and they will definitely have, a lot of support population, so i think they will be simple, each Political Party will try to attract as many military and volunteers as possible, and if even 51 of the partys conditional list will consist of military or volunteers, it will not be possible to say that it is the power of the military, ago that the power of the military is a party of the military, so far i have doubts that such a party will be created, and i do not see the expediency in this, because the war is one story and the defense of the state, and the management of the state and the de