Zelensky to reveal new plan – The Times

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky will present a “resilience plan” to the country, aimed at lifting morale, the Sunday Times has reported. The initiative comes after his so-called victory plan received a tepid response in Western capitals last month.

The latest plan is aimed at a domestic audience, and “[takes] into account the psycho-emotional state the country is in,” Zelensky’s top adviser, Mikhail Podoliak, told the British newspaper.

“We need to show clearly how we will prioritize investment in industry, how the energy sector will function, how we will communicate army mobilization, strengthen physical defense – all the most painful issues relating to the country’s sustainability are being worked out,” he said.

No further details have been revealed, but the Sunday Times noted that one academic paper submitted to the government for the plan states that Ukraine must preserve its natural resources for export to the US and EU. The country “possesses 22 out of the 34 minerals identified by the EU as critical raw materials,” it states, adding: “Ukraine’s major allies should recognize” that “what Ukraine might lose, Russia and China stand to gain.” 

Neither Podoliak nor the Sunday Times’ other sources explained how the plan will “communicate army mobilization.” Kiev’s military draft is already highly unpopular, and, according to a report by The Economist earlier this month, one in five conscripts end up deserting.

“The resilience plan will cover how Ukraine will prioritize investment in industry and how the energy sector will function as a freezing winter looms,” the Sunday Times reported, without explaining how Ukraine’s government, which is entirely dependent on foreign aid, will raise the money for this investment, or how Ukraine will prevent devastating Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure.

On Sunday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it had carried out a wave of missile and drone strikes on power infrastructure and defense plants across Ukraine. The Ukrainian media reported power outages in Volyn Region, Poltava Region, and the southern city of Odessa.

Zelensky has released several heavily promoted, multi-point plans since he broke off peace talks with Moscow in 2022 and vowed to keep fighting Russia. His ten-point ‘peace formula’ demands that Russia unilaterally surrender, restore Ukraine’s 1991 borders, pay reparations, and hand over its own officials to face war crimes trials. This plan was dismissed by the Kremlin as “delusional.”

More recently, Zelensky’s so-called ‘victory plan’ received a lukewarm reception in the West. According to details leaked to the media, the plan calls on Western nations to give Ukraine long-range missiles, NATO-style security guarantees, and hundreds of billions of dollars, all in the hope of defeating Russia militarily. Zelensky’s first request – for more long range missiles – was reportedly shot down by the Pentagon earlier this month.