A former U.S. Army general predicted Monday that the Russian military could soon run out of the manpower and weaponry needed to continue its invasion of Ukraine.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, said recent moves by Russia to extend its campaign to western Ukraine and reports that the country had asked China for military supplies may mean the Kremlin is running out of steam.
“Russia’s decision to transition to a war of attrition, where they’re smashing cities, putting civilians on the road for fear of being murdered, they need three things to do this, and they don’t have those three things,” Hodges said on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They don’t have the time, they don’t have the manpower and I don’t think they have the ammunition.”
Hodges’ comments were buoyed by evidence that Russia was running low on weaponry as Ukraine continued to mount a fiercer-than-expected resistance, notably around the capital of Kyiv. He said that if the West continued to support Ukrainians, it could be less than two weeks before the Russian military reached what he referred to as its culmination point.
“Assuming that we, the West, not only continue but accelerate the delivery of the capabilities the Ukrainians need, I think within the next 10 days that Russia is going to culminate, which means they will not be able to continue the attack any further,” Hodges said. “So, it’s kind of a race, actually, if we give the Ukrainians enough so they can outlast Russia.”
Hodges added that there was a big caveat to his prediction, a nod to Putin’s unpredictability during the invasion.
“I’ve been wrong a lot,” he said. “I don’t have a crystal ball here.”