Ukraine can liberate Crimea by next summer, - American General, Hodges
Ukraine can liberate Crimea as early as next year, as Russian troops on the peninsula will be very vulnerable.
The former commander of the US Ground Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, said this in an interview with Radio Svoboda, Censor.NET reports.
The general believes that the outcome of Ukrainian operations in the east is "already inevitable." Hodges says that if you perceive the Ukrainian counteroffensive as one big operation, then the left wing of the counteroffensive is the operation that descended from Kharkiv, is now near Donetsk and is moving to Mariupol, and the other wing is in Kherson. In the future, both of these wings should converge in the currently occupied Crimea.
"When they (the Ukrainian military. - Ed.) get closer and closer, they will be able to use HIMARS and other high-precision, long-range strikes to hit Russian targets in Crimea.
And as soon as they start using high-precision weapons against Russian airbases and storage points or logistical support and naval facilities in Crimea, then I think that Crimea becomes unfit for the defense of the Russians. And that is why, I believe, Ukraine will liberate Crimea by the summer," said Hodges.
The general believes that it is really difficult to liberate Crimea through a direct attack through the Perekop Isthmus. But in eight months, the situation may change radically and "at some point... the General Staff of the Russian Federation will realize that they are losing so many capacities."
"If the Russian forces can't resupply overland via Mariupol, then I think they'll realize they're in real trouble there, and the Russian General Staff will have to decide how much they're willing to lose and whether they have anything else they can drop. into the fight," Hodges emphasized.
