Russian forces cannot defeat the Ukrainian Armed Forces and are in a vulnerable position on the battlefield, which is why Moscow is seeking to compensate for its inability with massive air strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Nevertheless, the West must strengthen its support for Ukraine and provide all the assistance it needs.
This assessment was expressed in an exclusive interview with Ukrinform by retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe.
“Russia cannot defeat Ukraine, it seems to me,” the former US commander emphasized.
In this context, he noted that in eleven and a half years, the Russians have not been able to achieve more than they have now, which is approximately 19% of Ukraine’s territory. In addition, the Russian Air Force and Black Sea Fleet no longer play a role.
“I think the Russians actually are the ones who are in more trouble. If you can think strategically, they’re in a vulnerable position. Their economy is propped up. It doesn’t seem to be an economy that can keep going like it is, especially if we decide to do the economic things we talked about earlier,” Hodges said.
According to him, all the Russians can do is attack innocent Ukrainian civilians with drones every night. “I don’t see it happening anytime soon that Russia can overwhelm or break through Ukraine, but at the same time,” he emphasized.
But at the same time, he said, Ukraine is also unable to drive out Russian forces unless the West makes it a priority and provides the necessary assistance.
Hodges also stressed that the US and other countries need to step up to provide Ukraine with the means to attack Russian production facilities where it manufactures drones and missiles.
“We should be giving Ukraine what they need to target every one of these factories to reduce Russia’s ability to keep producing drones on such a scale. To me, that’s a very practical thing that could be done,” the former commander noted.
According to Hodges, it is necessary to insist that Ukrainians receive Storm Shadow, Scout, Taurus, ATACMS missiles, and other types of weapons that are available.
“Provide those to Ukraine so that they can attack headquarters, logistics, and the bases from which drones and missiles are being launched. These are the kind of things that we ought to be doing,” Hodges emphasized.
As reported by Ukrinform, Major General Christian Freuding, coordinator of the Ukraine Aid Headquarters at the German Ministry of Defense, said that Germany would not transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine but would support it by financing its own production of hundreds of long-range missiles.
Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
Source: Russia cannot defeat Ukraine, but West must strengthen its support for AFU, says General Hodges
