Ukraine could lift its occupation of the city within the next two months, according to US military Ben Hodges.
Ukraine has every chance of liberating Mariupol in less time than it took the Russian invaders to occupy it. In particular, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to do this until the end of 2022. This was said by the former commander of the US Ground Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges in an interview with Radio Liberty, published on Tuesday, November 8.
The military responded in this way to the question of why he believes that Ukraine will be able to de-occupy this city within the next two months, while Russia has spent more time and effort on its occupation.
“Remember, when the Russians attacked Mariupol, what happened? They were Ukrainian soldiers defending their homeland. They (the defenders of Azovstal – ed.) were from there. And therefore you have the will to fight, a moral factor, if you like, the determination of the soldiers defending “home. Any Russian troops in Mariupol are not protecting anything. None of them wanted to be there. They will see that they are trapped with their backs to the Sea of Azov, and this is a completely different set of circumstances,” he explained.
The former commander of the US Ground Forces in Europe emphasized that he does not minimize the challenges that Ukraine faces in terms of liberating its territories, but that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have a higher motivation than the occupiers Russian.
“And when it comes to testing logistics, the Russians are in trouble. They are running out of capacity. Most of their top quality equipment is destroyed or unusable because their logistics system is exhausted. Of course, I am looking forward to tomorrow’s sources, but we know that the Ukrainians are blocking all kinds of conversations with Russian soldiers that they’re out of cars, they’re out of parts, they’re out of ammunition,” Hodges said.
According to him, Russia is “failing the old-fashioned way.”
“They lost on the battlefield. The Black Sea Fleet had no help, except for launching missiles, they were nowhere in the Black Sea. They hid from the Ukrainian anti-ship missiles and now survived by Ukrainian drones. Therefore, of course, it is too early to plan a victory parade, but I am an optimist,” the military summed up.
As we wrote earlier, the Russian invaders began to build a line of defense around the city of Mariupol.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.