Irina Pogorelaya21:54, 03.11.23

He explained that he was mistaken due to the fact that the United States and Germany did not provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with long-range weapons.

Former commander of the US Army in Europe Ben Hodges admitted that he was mistaken regarding the timing of the liberation of Crimea occupied by the Russians.

Let us recall that earlier the military assumed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would liberate the peninsula this summer.

Now, in an interview with Radio  Liberty , Hodges explained that he had made a mistake in his calculations because he did not expect that the United States and Germany would still not provide Ukraine with the long-range weapons necessary to liberate Crimea. At the same time, he noted that he had not given up the belief that Ukraine would liberate its peninsula and other territories from the Russians. He noted that it was only a matter of time.

“I was sure that the US administration would understand that it was necessary to help Ukraine win. And the key to victory is the liberation of Crimea. This requires high-precision long-range weapons,” the military man said.

He stated that both the United States and Germany refused to make such supplies. “I was wrong about that. And so the Ukrainians are facing more difficulties than I expected,” Hodges explained. At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces still began to displace the Russian Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol further to the east.

“So-called “multi-dimensional operations” are taking place, which destroy radars and air defense systems in Crimea, and which made it possible to strike technical support facilities and the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol,” the military man said.

He noted that the fact that several ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet left Sevastopol demonstrates the potential of what the Ukrainians are capable of if they have the opportunity to strike from a long distance. “And this shows what they can force the Russians to do,” Hodges stated, adding that he is optimistic about the liberation of the peninsula.

“ I believe that there is a political decision not to provide such support. I hear different excuses, but they are all unconvincing. It seems to me that there are two reasons… The US administration is afraid that the Russian Federation could use nuclear weapons if it looks like it Crimea will soon be lost. I believe that this is a groundless concern,” the military man expressed his opinion.

He noted that in the United States there is a lot of talk about the danger of Russian escalation, although no one talked about it during the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. “Then we spoke very decisively and the actions were also very decisive. So I don’t understand why there is so much excitement this time,” Hodges expressed surprise.

In addition, he noted that part of the problem is also that there are people who cannot imagine that the Russian Federation can be defeated because they have been focusing on Russia as a great power for decades, and therefore they cannot accept the idea that it may fail. “Or they believe that if this happens, it will be too big a disaster. They don’t know what to do with the possible collapse of the Russian Federation,” he explained.

“I’m not advocating such a scenario, but we shouldn’t be afraid of it – we should plan what to do if it happens. Of course, there will be a problem of nuclear weapons control, a refugee problem. There are different aspects of what could happen. And I think “that we should make plans for such an eventuality,” Hodges shared his opinion.

The military man expressed hope that the United States will still make the right decisions on support if President Biden can better explain to the Americans why this is important for us, why we benefit from Ukraine’s success.

“And, of course, what is happening in Israel cannot be viewed in isolation… And who benefits from Iran’s support for Hamas’s attack on Israel? The Kremlin. Because it distracts attention from Ukraine, takes away resources that Ukraine needs,” Hodges said .

The military man believes that the Russian Federation is connected with the attack by Hamas militants on Israel. “Definitely, yes. Not in the sense of material support, but in the sense of coordination with Iran. The benefits for the Russian Federation are so obvious, and the leaders of the two countries have been flying between Tehran and Moscow so often lately that it is impossible to believe that this came as a surprise to the Kremlin.” , he emphasized.

In addition, Hodges added that the Russian authorities did not condemn this attack. “And we saw an event at the airport in Dagestan. People stormed the airport, thinking that Jewish refugees had arrived there, and it looked like the beginning of a pogrom. Russia is not a friend of Israel,” Hodges stated.

Hodges on the war in Ukraine

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hodges called for the immediate provision of all necessary weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He then stated that for a complete victory over the Russians, Ukraine needed to liberate Crimea. He strongly called on Ukrainian allies to help with weapons in order to achieve this goal. He noted that the liberation of the peninsula is strategically important.

(C)UNIAN 2023