"Can increased pressure to freeze war": The West underestimated Russia - General Bundeswehr

On December 29, Major General of the Bundeswehr, one of the closest advisers of the German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and the head of the Situational Center of Ukraine Christian Froiding, said this in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung. "Looking back, the expectations that Ukrainians will achieve in their defensive battle of what we sincerely wanted them and ourselves, namely, that they would achieve the fastest military success, of course, exaggerated," he said.

The military confirmed that the counter -offensive was slowed down, including because of the lack of some weapons. Defenders did not have support from the air, and the available air defense equipment had to be referred to settlements and infrastructure against hostile attacks. "In addition, Ukraine has attacked extremely well -developed Russian positions, which were replaced and barricaded to the extent that we must have never seen on such a scale before," Freuding emphasized.

According to him, in the results of the Armed Forces faced "significant failures" in the work of machines for mine and were forced to move in infantry. The mines installed, the occupiers had to be manually exchanged - at night. It took a long time and brought "great losses". "Ukraine still holds about 80% of its territory, and on this basis it can increase pressure to freeze the war.

It is possible, but not the one we want, which is why our constant support of Ukraine is so important," the general explained . In his opinion, the Armed Forces still succeed. The German serviceman reminded that Ukraine managed to return 50% of the lost territory and displace the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation from the western part of the Black Sea. However, the Bundesver representative did not deny that the West underestimated Russia.

He confirmed that at the time of a full -scale invasion of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have not yet seen such "stability". "We also did not see that we will see what we now see: they will increase their military-industrial complex, expand it, increase production capacity, despite the sanctions regime," Freuding added. He suggested that the West did not take into account the possible support of the Russian Federation.

In particular, North Korea, China or even the countries of the Global South. "It is known that Russia purchases consumer goods to then use them for military purposes, including for the production of drones," the general said. The military gave an example that the aggressor country even manages to use lighting for refrigerators for military purposes. In particular, exports of German refrigerators to Kazakhstan "exploded" during the war. The Russians get control chips.

At the same time, he stressed that the loss of the Kremlin is "huge". According to Western agencies, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation lost 300,000 fighters and a four -digit figure of tanks and BMPs in the battles. However, a set of people in the ranks of the invaders continues. "And, of course, we see these large -scale investments in the armed industry, which are also accompanied by an increase in capacity and expansion, especially in the production of ammunition," Freuding said.

According to him, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will leave the war in Ukraine "weakened both financially and personnel. " "Moscow risked and lost a large part of the upgraded Russian armed forces, both in terms of personnel and modern equipment. The staff they have now gained is poorly trained," the Bundesver spokesman said. He predicted that the Russian Federation will be able to change its position in about 5-8 years.