One of Russia’s greatest strategic errors was to invade Ukraine – Milley
The relevant statement was made by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, following the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Russia has made one of the greatest strategic errors Russia has ever made. They’ve invaded a country that’s been free and independent and that country is not going to quit until they too are free and independent once again,” Milley said.
In his words, this is a tough and hard fight, and Ukraine is making slow, steady progress every single day towards the end state that has been defined by the President of Ukraine and supported by all international partners.
Milley noted that, with the approach of winter, the grounds will get muddy and then freeze, but Ukrainian forces are not planning to stop fighting even then.
“There’s no intention whatsoever by the Ukrainians to stop fighting during the winter. They have the strategic initiative right now and they intend to continue to do that until they are in states achieved,” Milley stressed.
At the same time, Milley mentioned that there’s about a couple of hundred thousand Russian troops remaining in the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine.
“They [Russians - Ed.] have suffered a tremendous amount of casualties in their ground forces over time. […] Not extraordinarily well trained, not extraordinarily well led, lots of challenges with sustainment, logistics and so on. But they are there, and for Ukraine to militarily eject those two or three hundred thousand Russian troops that are still there – that’s a tough fight. They’ve liberated 54 plus percent of Ukraine, but there’s a lot left to go,” Milley explained.
According to Milley, it is not particularly surprising that Ukraine’s offensive is going a little bit slower than previously anticipated. Ukrainian forces have to break through a defensive series of belts that the Russians put in with complex obstacles, mine fields, dragon teeth, barbed wire, strong points and so on. Ukrainian warriors have already penetrated several layers of such defense.
“It is not 100% penetrated yet, but they have penetrated several of the layers, and they’re going very slow, preserving their combat power, and very deliberately through this defensive belt that stretches the entire length and breadth of Russian-occupied Ukraine. So, for the critics that are out there, I would say that there’s plenty of fighting weather left, there’s plenty of combat power remaining, and the Ukrainians have absolutely no intent to stop. They are going to go until the end state is achieved,” Milley emphasized.
A reminder that the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format took place on September 19, 2023.
Photo: Getty Images
