Former US general: Why Putin has already lost the Ukraine war

Created: 2022-12-19 04:45

By: Teresa Toth

Russia may be planning a new offensive for 2023. However, according to a former US general, Putin has already lost his war.

Frankfurt/New York City – Russian President Vladimir Putin has already lost the war from a strategic point of view.

At least that's what Barry R. McCaffrey, a retired US Army general, claims.

According to him, Russia is in an increasingly weakened position and unable to regain the initiative in the Ukraine war.

McCaffrey is a former four-star general who served in the US military from 1964 to 1996 and is now a frequent analyst for US news

and

.

As

reports, the ex-general was a guest on

on Friday (December 16)  to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

When asked by the presenter how he felt about Russia's announcement of an offensive in the new year, McCaffrey replied, "I think they're going to try.

You are desperate.

Strategically, however, they have already lost the war.”

Ukraine war: According to the US general, Russia cannot keep up with production

The reason for this is that Russia is not operationally able to "deal with a very active, aggressive Ukrainian military force." Although Russia has withdrawn to a position from which it can attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, McCaffrey doubts it , "that they regain the initiative to take Odessa or Kharkiv."

Putin's military has already suffered heavy casualties in the Ukraine war.

© Gavriil Grigorov/dpa

The Russian military has lost massive amounts of equipment since the beginning of the war of aggression, and almost 100,000 soldiers have already fallen.

Logistically, they are now inferior to the Ukrainian military, which receives support from the West.

"Their manufacturing base can't keep up with the war they're waging," notes McCaffrey.

Should Russia nevertheless launch a major offensive, this could happen as early as January or February – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also warned of this.

US general on Ukraine war: Russia wants to break through defenses

While he is not sure that this "will definitely happen", the Ukrainian armed forces are preparing for it.

"Taking into account the mobilization, the announced conscription, the training of new conscripts and the movement of their heavy weapons around the country, they clearly have hopes of breaching our defenses and pushing deeper into Ukraine," Kuleba said.

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