How Ukraine could achieve victory against Russia: As Kyiv's forces advance in the south and east, expert lays out the path to victory - with all roads leading to CrimeaBy CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE
5 October 2022
'This war began with Crimea and must end with Crimea - with its liberation,' President Volodymyr Zelesnky declared back in August. And, according to military experts, that is exactly what his generals are aiming to do.
Ben Hodges, former commander of American forces in Europe, has outlined what he believes to be the Ukrainian route to victory - going via the cities of Kherson and Mariupol and ending 'when the last Russian soldier crosses the [Kerch] bridge out of Crimea.'
General Hodges, now at the Center for European Policy Analysis, believes Ukraine's main effort will remain capturing Kherson in the south - where a major assault has been underway since early August - with a secondary attack hooking down through the Donbas and towards the city of Mariupol.
When Mariupol falls, he told a CEPA conference last week, those troops would also converge on Crimea - hammering the peninsula with HIMARS rockets and forcing the Russians back beyond the border.
Dr Mike Martin, a visiting fellow of war studies at King's College, also raised the prospect of a third assault with Ukraine using its reserves to split the Russian frontline in two and making it difficult for Putin to move reinforcements around as he gave his own thoughts on Twitter.
Nothing is guaranteed in war, and Putin will certainly do everything in his power to stop Kyiv - from piling conscripts on to the frontlines to possibly using a nuclear weapon.
But, as Ukraine's path to victory becomes clearer, MailOnline examines how it could play out...
* * *
Source:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11278851/How-Ukraine-achieve-victory-against-Russia-according-experts.html