Express: Putin trying to 'pummel Ukrainian people into demanding a ceasefire' for sanction relief
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of trying to pummel Ukrainians into demanding a ceasefire by retired military General Wesley Clark.
Retired military General Wesley Clark estimated that Russia could only keep on battling with this level of intensity in Ukraine for around seven weeks or a little longer.
The retired US army officer explained that Russia was struggling to produce their own modern missiles, so were taking nuclear warheads off some of their missiles in order to use them.
He also told John Berman that Putin was trying to get the Ukrainian people to call for a ceasefire in order for him to get relief from Western-imposed sanctions and so that he can rebuild his military in order to try and finish taking over Ukraine.
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Update: Ukraine holding on amid Donbas 'meat grinder' as Putin turns Bakhmut into 'killing field' (Express)
WNU Editor: It was only two months ago that retired General Wesley Clark was saying the Russian military was facing defeat, the momentum was on the side of Ukraine, and that dissent was growing in Russia that was jeopardizing Putin's hold on power(link here).
And now he is telling a different narrative. An acknowledgement that Bakhmut is a killing ground for Ukrainian forces, Ukrainian forces are facing logistical problems (due to their being no electricity to run their trains), and that Russia has the capability to launch missiles and artillery strikes for weeks. No mention from retired General Clark on Putin being removed from power as he was hinting two months ago.
But the retired General has to give some hope. So he says this is an opportunity for Ukraine to push and take Crimea, while ignoring the inconvenient fact that much of the original Ukraine army has been destroyed while Russia's military mobilization has now resulted with almost 700,000 soldiers being deployed to (and around) Ukraine.
Retired military General Wesley Clark is not the only pundit that has changed his narrative on the course of the war. Almost every other military pundit that I have seen in the US, Canada, and the UK are now reporting on the war in a different manner.
I think they see what I see.
A massive deployment of Russian forces, facing a Ukrainian army that has been significantly degraded after 9 months of fighting. It should also be mentioned that Russian forces now outnumber Ukrainian forces in the field. This is a first for Russia since the start of this war, and an ominous indication on what is coming.