A total of about 60,000 Ukrainian servicemen and women have been trained by allied nations so far, reported General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces, on the sidelines of today’s meeting of NATO defense ministers. However, General Milley did not want to speculate on how the war would unfold, saying it would be a difficult and tough fight.
“Russia has several hundred thousand troops at its disposal,” General Milley stressed. “Therefore, it is currently too early to talk about the end of this war.” General Milley, however, sees moral advantages with the Ukrainian servicemen and women. The Russian units, he said, are far from home and often don’t know why they should be fighting on those front lines in the first place, while the Ukrainians are defending their own country back home. Accordingly, morale and motivation are much better among Ukrainian units. Nevertheless, he said, the Russian forces should not be underestimated – if only because of their size.
Asked how the images of destroyed Western weapons systems should be assessed, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin replied: “This is war. We will see destroyed equipment on both sides. We will continue to see battle damage.” Thinking that one side will not suffer casualties is illusory – no matter how good the equipment, he said. “War is always fluid, it’s cruel, and it’s unpredictable.”
Dorothee Frank, Head of editorial team
