The American general assumes that the battles for Kherson will end in a few weeks, and by the summer of next year, Ukraine will liberate all its territories, including Crimea.
The former commander of the US Ground Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, is convinced that by the end of this year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can liberate the territories seized by Russia after February 24, and by the summer of 2023, the Ukrainian defenders will return the temporarily occupied Crimea.
Hodges spoke about this in an interview with Radio Liberty.
"I think that the result of operations in the east is already inevitable. Ukraine has reached an irreversible momentum," says the American lieutenant general.
Hodges says that heavy fighting is still going on in Bakhmut and the Kherson region, but in Kherson, it will not last long - a few more weeks, "until the Ukrainians destroy all the Russians who are on the right bank of the Dnieper."
According to the US lieutenant general, the Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in September is one big operation: on the one hand, from the Kharkiv region, on the other, from Kherson.
"The left wing of the counteroffensive is an operation descended from Kharkiv, now it is near Donetsk and is moving towards Mariupol. The other wing is in Kherson. Therefore, this is the right wing. So both of these wings converge in Crimea. All roads lead to Crimea," he said Hodges.
He is convinced that Crimea will become unsuitable for defense for the Russians as soon as the Armed Forces of Ukraine begin to use high-precision weapons against Russian air bases and naval facilities on the peninsula.
“And that is why, I believe, Ukraine will liberate Crimea by summer,†the American lieutenant general said and added that Russia would be defeated in an old-fashioned way - on the battlefield.
Recall, earlier, Ben Hodges said that now the main strategy of the Kremlin is to stretch the war against Ukraine in time. However, according to him, the Ukrainian troops will withdraw the occupying forces of the Russian Federation to the February 23 line within two months and liberate Crimea by the summer of 2023.
