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| The top general of the United States, Mark Milley |
International Military - The top general of the United States, Mark Milley, acknowledged Russia's superiority in its war in eastern Ukraine. According to him, the battle there is similar to World War I.
General Milley, who serves as Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the point at a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday. "The number is clearly in Russia's favor in Ukraine because the two countries are still at war," he said. "I would say the numbers are clearly in Russia's favor, in terms of artillery," General Milley continued.
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"Russia exceeds [in terms of] numbers, armaments and range," he said. "Ukraine is fighting them street by street, house by house," Milley added.
The battle in the Donbas was almost like World War I. But he also stressed that the battle was not a finished deal and said Russia's victory was not inevitable. "There's no necessity in war," Milley said. "War requires many, many rounds," he added, as quoted by Business Insider, Thursday (16/6/2022).
On Tuesday, a top Pentagon official said that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to control parts of Ukraine, even though his troops failed to capture Kiev at the start of the invasion. "I still think he has the design in most of Ukraine, if not the whole country," said US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, as reported by Reuters.
The countries have been at war since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. In the early days of the war, Russia faced major setbacks failing to capture the Ukrainian capital; Kiev, and Kharkiv, the country's second largest city. After that initial failure, Russia shifted its focus to the eastern Donbas region where it had been gradually making progress and was "hammering" Ukrainian forces with relentless artillery fire.
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The battle in the Donbas has reached a decisive stage, with the Russians on the verge of capturing the key city of Severodonetsk. Ukraine has begged the West to supply more weapons to help repulse Russia, underscoring that Kiev is outgunned and seeing up to 1,000 casualties per day.