WEEKEND INTERVIEW: Former U.S. Commander Sees Momentum Shift in Ukraine

KYIV, UKRAINE: United States Army Commander in Europe, Lieutenant General Frederick Ben Hodges, speaks to the media during an official visit to Ukraine on May 19, 2015. (Photo by Vladimir Shtanko/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWLike many long-running conflicts, the war in Ukraine has seen its share of shifts in momentum. The February 2022 Russian assault on the capital, Kyiv, was repulsed quickly by the Ukrainians, and for much of the war’s first year it appeared Ukraine – with a lift from NATO weaponry – might repel the Russian assault. In the summer of 2023, a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive fizzled; that setback, together with a months-long political logjam that stopped the shipment of U.S. weapons to Kyiv, sparked fears that Russia might actually win the war in 2024. 

At mid-year, the tides appear to have turned once more. The Washington logjam has broken, U.S. aid is flowing again, and now it’s a Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region that appears to have sputtered. 

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