Ukraine can restore full state sovereignty, including the return of temporarily occupied Crimea, within a year. Russia's war against Ukraine may end with a direct military victory for Kyiv.
This is reported by Newsweek.
It should be noted that the Ukrainian troops began counteroffensive actions in different directions of the front.
"They set the conditions under which they can restore full sovereignty, including Crimea, I think within the next year," said retired General Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe and an expert at the Washington Center for European Policy Analysis.
He noted that Russia currently controls less than 20% of the territory of Ukraine, and its ability to conduct further offensive operations is practically exhausted.
Hodges added that Western partners should provide Kyiv with the material and moral support it will need to achieve a complete military victory.
"We need a declaration that we want the victory of Ukraine, that we want it to return all its territory, that we want it to be able to defend itself in the future, and that we will do everything necessary to help them do it," - he said.
He noted that Washington is fully aware of Ukraine's needs.
"If the Ukrainians demonstrate the ability to surround a major enemy and besiege it in Kherson, it would be a major military achievement, and it would indicate that they can also do it in other places in the east and south," said the analyst of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) by George Barros.
However, it will probably take several months before a sufficiently clear picture of Ukrainian achievements around Kherson emerges.
"The Ukrainians have been very smart about the way they're conducting the Kherson counteroffensive. They said it's going to be slow, it's going to be exhausting, and it's actually a very smart way to do it," he said.
Barros noted that elements of the elite Russian 1st Guards Tank Army are being deployed in the south. He noted that Russia has worsened its positions in other parts of the country by moving them to the south.
"If these high-quality Russian forces can be exhausted in the area of the Kherson operation, I don't know who else is going to continue to defend other Russian positions in Ukraine," he said.
At the same time, Barros believes that the war is far from over.
It will be recalled that the General Staff admitted that the Ukrainian military had struck air bases in the occupied Crimea.
Citizens of the Russian Federation, who came to the peninsula illegally, are urged to go home.
In addition, Ukraine is already preparing evacuation routes from Crimea for residents who want to leave the peninsula for the period of deoccupation.
Instructions were also developed for the civilian population on how to act during de-occupation and possible hostilities on the territory of Crimea.