Zaluzhny urged Ukraine’s allies to draw the right conclusions.

“It is still possible to stop it here, on the territory of Ukraine. But for some reason our partners do not want to understand this. It is obvious that Ukraine already has too many enemies. Ukraine will survive with technology, but it is not clear whether it can win this battle alone,” he said.

Zaluzhny’s speech at the ceremony is in line with his grim outlook of the war. In similar comments in his essay for The Economist last year that infuriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zaluzhny compared the state of the conflict to a stalemate like World War I.

Zelenskyy fired Zaluzhny in February after rising tensions between the two on how the war in Ukraine should be fought — as well as Zaluzhny’s growing popularity, which made him a potential political threat.

Zaluzhny was credited for successfully halting and pushing back Russia’s initial attack launched on Feb. 24, 2022, which was later tarnished by the failure of last year’s counteroffensive. His role was taken over by General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is seen as closer to the president.