Vladimir Putin's army is facing total 'collapse' by the end of the year, says an ex US Army general.
Ben Hodges, who served as commanding general in the United States Army in Europe, predicted Russian forces would end up succumbing to the battle of attrition in Ukraine.
Hodges tweeted: "Russia is being attrited at such a rate that they may collapse before the end of this year, assuming the West delivers in time what we've promised. War is a test of will and a test of logistics."
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The tweet was made in reference to an assessment by military expert Marcus M Keupp, who leads the Department of Defense Economics at the Military Academy of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
In a recent interview with German news outlet t-Online Keupp said that Ukrainian forces would soon have leverage in the war as the West continues to supply them with military aid and Russia loses more of its troops.
During his interview Keupp agreed that the battle in Bakhmut illustrates the meaning of "war of attrition" in reality.
He said: "The current situation in Bakhmut particularly symbolises this fact.
"A look at the numbers makes this clear: In order to take the city, the Russian leadership sends out battalions in mindless frontal attacks, the units are quickly shot up. "
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He continued: "If they lose a battalion every day, they have to get replacements. But from where? So other parts of the front are being thinned out."
"Just to classify the geographical area we are talking about: the front section in Bakhmut is 20 kilometres long, but the entire front from Kherson to Kharkiv is over 1000 km long.
"The dogged onslaught of the Russian units no longer has anything to do with military rationality."
Russian forces have been experiencing a number of setbacks in Ukraine, including shortages of fighters and equipment, despite some recent advancements.
Meanwhile, Western nations including the United States have continued to provide Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid.
The fight between Ukrainian and Russian forces has extended through major Ukrainian cities since the beginning of the war, including Kyiv, Odessa and Kherson, with no end to the war in sight.
Most recently, Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, has been the site of a months-long intense battle between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
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