Ben Hodges is not a retired officer to be taken lightly. Lieutenant General Hodges is, in fact, a former commander general of the US military in Europe. And he has very clear and important ideas about the Russian Federation invasion war of Ukraine.
Right away he claimed that this war "Deserves the attention of all Americans" and which represents a challenge to "All our values on the sovereignty of nations, to people who want to be free and independent".
Well, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges has been arguing for almost ten days, with interviews and public statements, that Russian forces will not be able to capture the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, due to the size of the city and the resistance not only from the Ukrainian army, but by its citizens: despite "much more destruction and fighting" in and around Kiev, the capital "will not fall" and "the Russians will not be able to make it".
With even more force, Hodges argues that the Russian military is based "an attrition strategy to achieve its goals ... compensating for their poor planning, terrible logistics, inability to conduct effective action" and, mistakenly, underestimated "the strength of the Ukrainian fighters". He also specifies that he does not believe the Russians "They can sustain this 'overwhelming' firepower as their logistics deteriorate and the logistics for Ukraine improve ... Nor do I believe they have the staff, logistics or time to conduct this approach effectively.".
Russian President Vladimir Putin's initial strategy when he invaded Ukraine - swiftly storm major cities, oust pro-Western President Volodymyr Zelensky and replace him with a pro-Russian puppet government. In doing all of this, Russia "failed", according to Hodges.
After the blitzkrieg, it was the turn of city raids. Now, however, the Russians have turned their attention to supplies from NATO and the Allies, as in the case of the attack on Sunday 14 March against Yavoriv, just outside the city of Lviv, in part to demonstrate how can reach the lines of communication that bring supplies and support from Poland to Ukraine.
"I do not believe - says Hodges - that we should overreact to this. The Russians are about ten days away from what is called the climax, when they simply no longer have the ammunition or personnel to support their assault. I think we will have to continue to flow in aid: soon the Russians will be at the peak of their effort ".
Photo: US Army archive
