Retired US general: Ukraine may retake Crimea by mid-2023

Retired US General Ben Hodges predicts that the Ukrainian military will liberate Crimea and all other Russian-occupied territories by the middle of 2023.

Hodges, the former commanding general of the United States Army Europe from 2014 to 2017, told Lithuanian media outlet LRT that he has "great confidence" in Ukraine's Armed Forces, according to Newsweek.

"I hope that by the end of this year, Ukrainian forces will push Russian forces to the positions of February 23," Hodges told LRT, "and that by the middle of next year, the Ukrainians will be in Crimea."

In July, he expressed a similar sentiment, saying the Russians "don't have much they can do right now" due to the morale of the Ukrainian military and the proliferation of weapons provided by ally nations.