If the West decides to quickly transfer to Kyiv the fighters requested by it, Ukraine can achieve a complete victory in the war with Russia this year. So believes the former US troops commander in Europe General Lieutenant Ben Hodges.
“If we continue to maintain this level (support), Ukraine will definitely win, there is no doubt there. But this can take up to five years, during this time many innocent people will be killed. The sooner we will give them the opportunity to achieve a decisive outcome the sooner it will end. I believe that the war can end this year. Ukraine can defeat Russia and force it to leave the Crimea and the Donbass. How long it will continue, ”said Hodges in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
According to him, the difficulties associated with the training of Ukrainian pilots to manage Western fighters do not mean that it is impossible to provide Kyiv with aircraft. “Ukraine, of course, will choose its best pilots to transplant them to new fighters,” the general said, urging this process to start as soon as possible.
According to Hodges, the supply of fighters does not differ from the transfer of the Himars or howitzers Panzerhaubitze 2000 from Kiev. All this is an accurate weapon of large -range, which gives APU the ability to attack Russian bases, logistics, and the transportation system, he emphasized.
Without returning to Ukraine, control over the Crimea cannot be said about a complete victory, Ben Hodges said. “The complete restoration of their sovereign territory. While Russia remains in the Crimea, it will just wait until we lose interest in order to start the attack again,” he warned.