Several retired US generals and a former director of US intelligence believe that Ukraine currently has the upper hand in the war with Russia.
Photo: 93rd Mechanized Brigade Cholodnyi Jar
Ukrainian soldiers from the 93rd Cholodnyi Jar Mechanized Brigade fired rockets from a Grad rocket launcher at Russian positions in the direction of Constantinople, the brigade said.
They listed it for CBS News after the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyy declared that the Ukrainian army had regained since the beginning of the year 600 square kilometers of territory.
Syrskyj did not specify where exactly the Ukrainian forces managed to liberate the territory. However, he emphasized that the heaviest fighting is taking place in the south-east of the country, especially in the Oleksandrivka and Hulyajpol areas.
“Operationally, I would say that Ukraine is winning because it destroys the adversary’s operational objectives, creates conditions for further operations, and maintains freedom of action,” retired Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, wrote in an email.
According to CBS News, two other generals also agreed with his assessment, saying that Ukraine is outperforming Russia on the front. Military experts point to the development of Ukrainian capabilities in the area as one of the main reasons mid-range drone attacks.
Since 2023, Ukraine has built an effective arsenal of short-range FPV drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that these unmanned vehicles currently cause more than 90 percent of the Russian army’s losses.
According to the material of CBS News, from 2024, Ukraine will also effectively use long-range unmanned aircraft and guided missiles. They were recently supposed to hit military bases in St. Petersburg, which is located more than 600 miles, or approximately 965 kilometers, from the Ukrainian border.
Until recently, according to military sources, it was difficult to find drones capable of reliably hitting targets at a distance of 50 to 100 kilometers. The research and development unit of Ukraine’s elite front-line brigade, Chartija, told CBS News in March that extending the range of surveillance and attack drones beyond 50 kilometers is a priority.
Military analyst Rob Lee says Ukrainian troops have largely solved the problem. “Last year, Ukraine simply lacked this ability – to hit targets 50-100 kilometers behind the front line. Now they do it very often, practically every day. And the number of these drones that they use will only grow,” he said.
Retired General Joseph Ralston offers a different perspective. According to him, no one is winning this war because “Russia is not strong enough to occupy all the territory it wants without using nuclear weapons, and Ukraine is not strong enough to win back the lost territories.”
However, according to CBS News, Lee and Ashley say that the latest trends on the front speak in favor of Ukraine. At the same time, Ashley pointed out that both sides are still counting on victory, which reduces the likelihood of an early ceasefire. “However, time is not necessarily on Putin’s side,” he added.
