Ukraine "running rings" around Russia amid Crimea wins: Ex-General

Russia's weakened military appears unable to deal with Ukraine's multi-theatre offensive effort, according to a former commander of U.S. Army Europe, with Kyiv's varied attacks wreaking havoc in southern Ukraine, Crimea, and even within Russian borders.

Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges told Newsweek in an interview that the "Ukrainian General Staff is running rings around the Russian General Staff" as both sides look to make gains before the mud and freezing conditions of fall and winter set in.

Recent months have seen an intensification of small drone attacks across western Russia, several even reaching Moscow and causing damage in the capital. Meanwhile, major strikes on occupied Crimea have become commonplace, as naval drones and advanced cruise missiles target key defensive and naval facilities.

All the while, Ukrainian troops in southeastern Ukraine have been pressing the counteroffensive that has been underway since early June. Kyiv's ground forces are yet to rend a decisive hole in Russia's defensive lines as they seek to collapse the so-called "land corridor" of occupied territory linking Crimea to western Russia.

The success or failure of the operation could prove decisive in shaping the war, with more sceptical observers citing the offensive's slow progress as a signal that the conflict is freezing over, perhaps necessitating fresh peace talks with the Kremlin.

Sevastopol Exodus

In Crimea and the Black Sea, at least, Kyiv is being buoyed by cascading successes. Ukrainian commandos have been raiding the peninsula and engaging Russian troops and facilities there, while other Ukrainian forces seek and destroy valuable radar and air defence sites protecting Crimea's strategic jewels.

Among those is Sevastopol, the home of the beleaguered Black Sea Fleet and the crux of Russian power on the peninsula. In the past weeks, Ukraine—which has no conventional navy and a limited air force—has badly damaged two more Russian vessels, including a Kilo-class submarine, and destroyed the Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

Recent satellite images suggest the bulk of the fleet and the ships carrying Moscow's prized Kalibr cruise missiles have relocated out of Sevastopol. This is an apparent admission that Russian-occupied Crimea—sometimes referred to as Moscow's "floating aircraft carrier" in the Black Sea—is not as formidable as once thought.

"It remains to be confirmed, but if the Black Sea Fleet is having to leave Sevastopol now because they realize that they are so vulnerable to long-range precision weapons that they can't stay there, this is really impressive," Hodges—long a proponent of Ukrainian liberation of Crimea regardless of Western scepticism—said.

"But it also shows the benefit of having the long-range precision weapons that can hit the facilities at Sevastopol, the air base at Saki, the logistics hub at Dzhankoy."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defence Ministry by email to request comment.