The Ukrainian resistance was tougher than expected for Vladimir Putin and the Russian soldiers. Two and a half months into the war in Ukraine, Russia is suffering heavy losses, according to British intelligence.
The British claim, among other things, that Russia has lost every third soldier of those sent in February. They also point out the significant lack of equipment, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones.
The statements have attracted a great deal of attention after they were shown in a Russian TV debate.
– If you look at the big picture, the situation is as follows: The Ukrainian defense is able to arm one million people. They themselves say that it is not a problem for them to mobilize a million people. The big question is whether they can supply these with modern weapons and military equipment, says Khodaryonok.
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– Will get worse
The analyst points out that Ukraine alone had not been able to supply its defense, but that Russia must assume that it will still be able to do so due to European support. Thus, one must consider one million armed Ukrainians as a reality in the near future, according to Khodaryonok.
– That is the reality and it must be included in our strategic and operational calculations. The situation will be worse for us, he states.
In the debate program, the analyst also urges not to take for granted all the information that comes out of Ukraine in connection with the war. Among other things, he rejects allegations that Ukrainian soldiers are approaching mental breakdown.
– All information must be seen in context. The information that Ukrainian soldiers are close to a moral crisis and mental breakdown – to put it simply, is not true. There are individual cases with prisoners of war and some units, but there are individual cases. You have to see the big picture, says Khodaryonok.
The military analyst is also asked how many professional soldiers the Ukrainian defense consists of. Khodaryonok is ruthless in his assessment of what is crucial to whether soldiers are professional or not.
The fact is that the quality of a defense is not determined by the number of people recruited on contract, but by the level of the people’s training, morale and willingness to sacrifice for the home country. A defense consisting of conscripts can also be highly professional, he states, before he downplays the assessment of the Russian army.
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Ever since the beginning of the war, there have been reports from Ukraine that many of Russia’s emissaries are ill-prepared. According to several sources, the youngest were also told that they were only going to military training.
– In our country, this has been overestimated. Some politicians believe that if you have soldiers on contract, then they are automatically professional soldiers. Far from! Far from! The will to protect their homeland in the way that is seen in Ukraine, it really exists there, they are prepared to fight until the last man falls. It’s not about professionalism, but about how prepared you are, says Khodaryonok.