The former commander of the US forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, believes that the Ukrainian counteroffensive did not achieve the desired results because Western allies did not provide Kyiv with enough weapons to conduct large-scale operations. He said this on the Silicon Curtain YouTube channel.
"Of course, I was disappointed that the Ukrainian counteroffensive did not lead to the results we all hoped for and predicted. It was we, the West, who failed, not Ukraine," Hodges said.
According to him, the West did not provide Ukraine with "long-range precision weapons". As a result, "the war has been extended for at least a year."
The general also called for attention to the losses suffered by the Russian Armed Forces during these months - the destruction of "Russian artillery, tanks, combat vehicles." In addition, according to him, the Russians lost about 300,000 men in total, including 20,000 during the autumn assaults. At the same time, they gained several square kilometers in the vicinity of Avdiivka.
At the same time, the American officer noted that Ukraine destroyed the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet with Storm Shadow missiles, and before that, warships in dry dock in Sevastopol. Hodges emphasized that the West had long refused to provide long-range missiles, and when it did, it was in small quantities and with a number of prohibitions.
"If we provide long-range missiles, it will be a significant increase in capabilities for Ukraine. But it seems that the West is regulating or even tying Ukraine's hands behind its back," Hodges said.
The general explained that Ukraine is prohibited from using these missiles to strike the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in Russia. In his opinion, this should not be the case.
"We are basically telling them that they cannot hit Russian territory, they can only hit the occupied territories. Of course, then it becomes easy for Russia to place part of its logistics command and control beyond the reach of Ukraine," he added.
