According to the senior US military officer, Ukraine has less than 30 days of fighting left before the weather makes it difficult for it to launch a counteroffensive.
Colder weather will make it much tougher for Ukraine to manoeuvre, Gen. Mark Milley said in an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.
He acknowledged that the offensive had progressed slower than anticipated. But he added: “There is still fierce fighting.
“The Ukrainians continue to work hard and make steady progress.”
Although Ukraine was “progressing at a very steady pace through the Russian front lines,” General Milley said it was too soon to judge whether the counteroffensive had been successful.
“The Ukrainians aren’t finished since there is still a respectable length of time left—probably 30 to 45 days’ worth of fighting weather.
“There are still battles to be fought… they haven’t completed the fighting component of what they’re trying to do.”
The counteroffensive by Kiev, which was started in the summer and aims to free the Ukrainian area under Russian occupation, has so far made only marginal progress.
But according to Ukrainian generals, they have managed to get beyond Russia’s powerful southern first line of resistance.
I said at the outset of this [war] that it would be lengthy, sluggish, difficult, and fatality-producing, and that’s exactly how it has turned out, according to Gen. Milley.
UK Chief of Defence Staff Adm Sir Tony Radakin stated “Ukraine is winning and Russia is losing” in the same interview.
“That’s because Russia wanted to enslave Ukraine and take control of it,” he explained.
“That has not occurred and will not occur, and for that reason Ukraine is winning.”
Having reclaimed 50% of the territory Russia had taken over, he said, Ukraine was making strides in its fight to reclaim its land.
According to him, Russia is suffering as a result of the international community’s “economic pressure and diplomatic pressure” on Ukraine.
BBC
