What does Ukraine need to win the war? (with retired general Ben Hodges) - DW News

[TexasTowelie]

Ben Hodges, a retired general who was the commander of the US army in Europe, says Russia has consistently struggled with adapting to the challenges it faced on the battlefield.

Hodges told DW that Russia's military chiefs "are not stupid, but they do not have a culture that allows critical self-reflection. And if you want to improve, especially in the short amount of time, you have to be honest about what went wrong."

"Instead, what you see is guys like [Yevgeny] Prigozhin publicly blaming the general staff for not supporting him more," Hodges said, referring to the owner of the Wagner Group of mercenaries and his row with the Russian army.

Nine years after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Russian military ranks "still have not figured out a coherent command structure that gets all of their advantages into the fight at the same time," he said.

"On the other hand, the Ukrainians who started off with every disadvantage except for the fact that they're defending their own country, have a much more Western approach to this adapting to new technologies," he added. "I've never seen soldiers learn new equipment as fast as the Ukrainian crew."

DW also spoke with Igor Zhovkva, deputy head of the office of the president of Ukraine, about Zelenskyy's plan to have a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"The role of China is really important not only in Asia, but worldwide," Zhovkva said.

Zelenskyy is "ready to share with Xi Jinping Ukraine's understanding of what is going on … Ukraine's understanding of how we want to bring peace not only to Ukraine but to this part of the world," Zhovkva said, referring to Ukraine's 10-point peace formula.

Asked about US intelligence that China may be planning on sending weapons to Russia, he pointed to earlier Chinese comments that it was not planning on such a move.

[lapfog_1]

1. I have a shopping list

squadrons of F-117 Nighthawks
squadrons of F22 raptors
half dozen air tankers
half dozen AWACs

That should give Ukraine air superiority

squadrons of A-10 Thunderbolts aka Warthogs

now that they have the skies, they can use the old reliable warthog to kill Russian armor and infantry formations.

few hundred (like 500) modern tanks
many more HIMARS missile systems, equipped with 1000s of long range missiles

more guns, armor, armored personnel carriers, ammunition, etc

and something like 100,000 cheap drones equipped with grenades or small bombs

a couple of fast attack submarines in the Black Sea

a hundred or so HELIOS (anti missile, anti drone) laser weapons... adapted for land use.

Kill all the Russians in Ukraine... and kill so many that NOBODY from Russia will ever go back there. Especially kill the Wagner Group commanders.

And, what we can't give them but they need... 1 year to learn how to fight with all the stuff mentioned above.

It's not that I'm blood thirsty... the fastest way to end the war is to give Ukraine all that they could possibly want and let them fight for their freedom. The fastest way to end the bloodshed is to end the war fast and decisively. So decisively that the Russian high command push Putin out of a window on the 20th floor, plus all his supporters get arrested and go to jail.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

3. So kill kill kill? War war war...weapons weapons weapons!? Very Americanish.

[lapfog_1]

5. some wars are not wrong.

last one that could have ended much earlier and with much less killing, but it HAD to be fought was WWII.

Putin in the modern equivalent of Hitler. Should have been forcefully opposed is Georgia, imho.

[mitch96]

6. I don't like war either and how do you deal with a madman like Putin?

He comes to your country and steals your land, kills your people and abducts your children?
If, as some believe that war is an extension of politics by other means is we failed at the politics of putin.. Something should have been done sooner.. war is stupid..
m

[sl8]

4. F-117s were retired about 15 years ago. nt

[Irish_Dem]

7. F-117s have been seen flying post retirement as recently as last year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawk

[sl8]

8. Interesting, thanks. nt

[Alexander Of Assyria]

2. Peace, with Honor. No more weapons, or death death death needed! People want peace,

the politicians want war, dead people is the peace to be paid!?

Ofc America wants to send more and more weapons, it has massive taxpayer funded
warehouses full of them…even tanks the military didn’t want but forced to buy from the
thankful War Barons that sit at the top of the economic food chain to the tune of sucking up half of hardworking taxpayers money. Every year. It’s a massive fraud, year after year.

840 billion a year on instruments and deliverers of death…America Is A Gun, and The American Gun is everywhere.

[scipan]

9. Let's say that I have a gun and I'm coming to kill you and your family.

Would you grab a gun too and defend yourself and your family?
Or just raise your hands and hope, against all evidence, for mercy?

This is a war between an aggressor dictatorship and a nascent democracy.

It's about as clear as it ever gets who are the good guys and the bad guys.