Russian aggression in Ukraine has entered a new phase – General McChrystal

“Russia has the ability, just like during World War II, where they lost 20 million people killed, to attract many people and withstand huge losses … So, when more Russian forces appear, even if they are not well trained or managed, they become a factor in fight and they can make this fight go on for a long time,” the general said.

McChrystal noted that the Russians now have enough forces to complicate Ukraine’s operations even with the latest precision-guided weapons. At the same time, the masses of mobilized will not help the Russians achieve a breakthrough because of their limitations.

“Most likely, we will see a very deadly continuation of the same war for a while … But I think decisiveness will make the difference. The winner will be the one who commits himself not to give up and not lose,” McChrystal explained.

The general also urged to support Ukraine as long as necessary to win this war. He noted that it is very important to give Ukrainians the technologies necessary for this. But, in his opinion, the West will not rush, so as not to provoke Russia.

“If you suddenly transfer an extremely large amount of weapons, the effect that this is likely to have on Russia, not only on Vladimir Putin, but on the Russian people, may lead to a different result than we want. This may create the idea that they themselves have become a target, that the West is even planning an invasion of Russia. This somewhat slow escalation upsets the Ukrainians, but I think that this is natural and could probably be expected,” McChrystal added.