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Transcript/ScriptHEADLINE: Military experts analyze Russian military strategy in Ukraine and predict: what happens now?
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: May 26, 2022 at 11am
BYLINE: Oleksii Kovalenko
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KE, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA; AP, Reuters,Skype
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:16
VID APPROVED BY: Jepson
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[In the early days of the invasion, Russian officials said their goals were to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. For VOA, Oleksii Kovalenko looks at what happened to that strategy.]]
((NARRATION))
In the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, western analysts predicted Russia’s military would quickly take control of Ukraine and its capitol city, Kyiv.
Three months later, it’s clear the Russian army has done significant damage.
((Gen. Ben Hodges, US Army Retired)) ((in English))
((mandatory courtesy: Skype))
“They have seized territory, and they are putting tremendous damage on Ukraine's economy. They're also blocking the export of grain.”
((NARRATION))
Still western military experts say the Russian campaign has been a failure.
((Gen. Ben Hodges, US Army Retired)) ((in English))
((mandatory courtesy: Skype))
“I mean they have fallen short on every objective. The Ministry of Defense has been exposed as a corrupt institution. Their soldiers are murderers, they use weapons indiscriminately against civilian targets.”
((NARRATION))
Gen. Ben Hodges, the former US commander in Europe Russia, say Russia did not account for the fierce will of the Ukrainian people.
((Gen. Ben Hodges, US Army Retired)) ((in English))
((mandatory courtesy: Skype))
“War is a test of logistics and it's a test of will, and it's clear that Ukrainian soldiers and Ukrainian population have the superior will because they're fighting for their home, They're fighting to defend their families literally, whereas Russia is the aggressor the invader, the Russian soldiers are being used as cannon fodder terribly because their own leadership doesn't care about them,
((NARRATION))
Ukrainian resistance has forced the Russians to change their initial strategy of a quick Blitzkrieg type invasion into a slower, deadlier, and more damaging form of warfare.
((Ian Brzezinski, Atlantic Council))((In English))
((mandatory courtesy: Skype))
“They're trying to build up a huge amount of massive forces, and they're just very slowly, very inefficiently and very destructively crawling forward into Ukrainian space, destroying everything which is actually in some ways consistent with what Russia had done in Grozny, in Syria, in Donbass and Crimea, which is basically the grind down the area, grind down the enemy.
((NARRATION))
Ian Brzezinski from the Atlantic Council says this new strategy will require a long-term commitment from western Allies to continue sanctions against Russia
and provide material and logistical help to Ukraine.
((Ian Brzezinski, Atlantic Council))((In English))
((mandatory courtesy: Skype))
“It's almost kind of a long term game of attrition in which what will be key is sustaining Ukrainian confidence and will. That can be done through sustaining Western assistance to Ukraine, ramping up, continuing to ramp up the flow of military supplies.”
((NARRATION))
Hodges predicts the attack will last until the fall and that Ukrainian forces will recapture what the Russians have taken.
((Gen. Ben Hodges, US Army Retired)) ((in English))
((mandatory courtesy: Skype))
‘… So, end of August first part of September Russian forces will collapse, and Ukraine hopefully will have built up enough offensive capability to launch a counterattack to push the Russians back to at least the February 23 line. I think that happens by September.”
((NARRATION))
But rebuilding Ukraine is daunting prospect the country must still face. The World Bank says the war has caused more than 60 billion dollars' worth of damage to buildings and infrastructure in Ukraine and displaced more than 12 million people.
((Oleksii Kovalenko, VOA News Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D.C.
Embargo DateMay 26, 2022 17:35 EDT
Byline((Oleksii Kovalenko, VOA News Washington))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
