Ukraine: “The war will be decided in the next ten days” – Ex-Lieutenant General makes prognosis

Created: 03/19/2022, 20:31

By: Samira Mueller

The Ukraine war will be decided in the next ten days: That's what former Lieutenant General Ben Hodges believes.

(Archive photo) © ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP

The war in Ukraine is not over yet.

But former Lieutenant General Ben Hodges believes Russia is in trouble.

WASHINGTON DC – The country is still at war because of the Russian attacks in Ukraine.

After dramatic weeks in the Ukraine conflict*, there seems to be no end in sight.

However, Ben Hodges, a former lieutenant general in the United States Army and associate in the Strategic Studies Chair at the Center for European Policy Analysis (Cepa), believes the war will be decided in the next ten days.

"The Russians are in trouble," Hodges wrote in his report on Tuesday (March 15, 2022) to Cepa.

That is why they asked China for help and recruited Syrian mercenaries.

Ukraine war: "The next ten days will decide the war"

The former lieutenant general is convinced that Russian generals are running out of time, ammunition and manpower.

This is based on open source information, and he also says it from his experience, as he describes in the report.

However, one condition of his statement is that the West, led by the USA*, must accelerate and expand support in Ukraine*.

The country needs more weapons and ammunition to respond to the attacks from Russia*.

Ukraine war: Russia faces difficulties, according to former lieutenant general

The time challenge affects Russia not only in the military sense.

As the number of sanctions against Russia continues to mount, the country could soon default on $150 billion in foreign currency debt, Hodges explains in his report at Cepa.

In addition, resentment could also grow in their own country.

This was shown above all by a Russian TV journalist who protested against the Ukraine war with a poster during a live broadcast.

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The then commander of US forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, at a press conference in 2015. (Archive photo) © Attila Kisbenedek/AFP

"The Russians are suffering from a lack of ammunition," writes the former lieutenant general.

The Ukraine war * is already taking much longer than Russia had planned at all.

So Hodges assumes they didn't stock up enough.

In addition, the consumption of ammunition in times of war is much higher than the planned figures, especially since fighting in the cities would exacerbate consumption.

In addition, Finland and Slovenia used to supply a lot of ammunition to Russia.

But the countries have stopped deliveries.

Former lieutenant general believes the Ukraine war will end soon

About 50 percent of Russia's combat capability is currently deployed in Ukraine, the Pentagon said, according to Hodges.

It's very difficult to keep up.

The former lieutenant general also believes that Russia does not have the manpower or firepower to encircle, let alone capture, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The Ukrainians would keep the center open to avoid encirclement.

Although Hodges expects further air and ground attacks on the city, "but I don't think it will fall".

Ukraine war: "The next ten days are crucial"

In addition, the number of casualties in the war would exacerbate Russia's dilemma.

The number of dead is now in the thousands.

This also affects Russian soldiers, who are difficult to replace.

There are also reports of differences of opinion between commanders and rumors of deserting soldiers

a sign of major staffing problems.

In addition, the Ukrainian armed forces still outnumber the Russian soldiers who are actually on the ground.

"The next ten days are crucial," says Hodges.

Therefore he calls on all people to inform the Russian people about the Ukraine war and to continue to support Ukraine.

(smü)