Russia is waging a “campaign of terror” in Ukraine, Pentagon says
Russia has “failed” on all fronts in its war against Ukraine, U.S. Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Wednesday.
“Ukrainians have had success after success after success. And the Russians have failed every time. They lost strategically, operationally and, I repeat, tactically”he said at a press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Citing multiple Russian failures, including the recent withdrawal from the city of Kherson, the US general complained that Moscow had decided to engage “a campaign of terror, a campaign aimed at inflicting maximum suffering on the civilian population of Ukraine, in order to break their morale”.
Russia carried out massive attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure across the country on Tuesday, including near the Polish border, which left millions of homes without electricity, according to Kiev. The highest ranking American officer estimated it roughly ” A quarter “ of the Ukrainian population was without electricity at least due to this barrage of missiles “about sixty, even up to 90 or 100”he said, speaking of the “the largest wave of missiles” fired upon Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February.
“Yesterday blackout [mardi] clearly shows that the nuclear safety situation in Ukraine may suddenly deteriorate, increasing the risk of a nuclear emergency”Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a statement.
“Deliberately targeting the civilian power grid, causing excessive collateral damage and unnecessary suffering to the civilian population, is a war crime”said General Milley.
“The likelihood of a Ukrainian military victory by expelling the Russians from all of Ukraine (…)the probability of this happening soon is not very high militarily”, He added. With winter approaching and the probable freezing of military positions on the battlefield, this could be an opportunity for the opening of talks, the American general pointed out.
“The Russians are in a really bad position, so you want to negotiate when you are in a strong position and your opponent is in a weak position”He added.
