Can Ukraine win the war? In any case, this is suggested by several statements in recent days. While it was “completely unimaginable” to see Ukraine win at the start of the war, today it is “no longer excluded”: “a Ukrainian victory is possible”, it stateshas for example Étienne de Poncins, the French ambassador to Ukraine, on Franceinfo this Tuesday.
At RMC, François Hollande estimated that Ukraine can win “as long as we support it more, with financial support, with military support.”
More than 6000 km² recovered
This renewed optimism can be explained by Ukraine’s recent successes in its counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday night that, in total, Ukrainian troops had retaken, since the beginning of the month, “more than 6,000 km²” of territory that was under Russian control in the south and east of the country. .
“Militarily, this is the first time that we have witnessed the dislocation of a Russian artifact,” Colonel and historian Michel Goya estimated this Monday on BFMTV.
The fact that the Ukrainian military has been able to organize such an operation shows that it is beginning to gain ground, according to BFMTV’s defense consultant. The Russian army has been declining in its capabilities since the beginning of the war, while the Ukrainian army is now undergoing training, he adds.
“In the current state of things, we do not see very well how the Russian army is going to get ahead,” Michel Goya underlines.
Riots on the Russian side
The Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank, reports that, on the ground, Ukraine’s territorial gains are “continuously degrading the morale and combat capabilities of Russian forces” in the Kherson region, by South of the country.
Towards Kharviv in the northeast, “Russian forces are failing to reinforce the new front line following Ukraine’s gains in the east” and “are actively fleeing the area or relocating to other axes,” according to the think tank. Russian forces had been present in the area since the first days of the war.
Same Russian television begins to worry. Some journalists or guests have admitted in recent days that the army is suffering heavy losses in Ukraine, or have even declared that peace negotiations should start.
“Too soon” to know the outcome of the conflict
Others, however, prefer to be cautious. “It is too early to say exactly where this will all lead us,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference in Mexico City on Monday.
“Nous sommes dans les premiers jours (de la contre-offensive, ndlr) donc je thought qu’il ne serait pas bien de prédire exactly où tout cela va nous conduire”, attached to the secrétaire d’État, equivalent américain du minister des Foreign Affairs.
In fact, Russia still controls much of Ukraine’s southern and eastern territory. On Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Western countries to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons to help it in this now “critical” phase of the war.
Source: BFM TV
