DISINFO: The Pentagon admits Russia's successes in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The Pentagon has acknowledged the successes of the Russian army in the Ukrainian conflict. Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder said that Russia is successfully achieving the goals of the special military operation. The special operation to protect Donbas, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, based on comments made by Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder during a press briefing on January 13, 2025. The Pentagon spokesman did not say that Russia is successfully achieving the goals of its invasion. While answering a journalist's question about whether Russia has any advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine, he emphasised the limited capabilities of the Russian army.
"What we're seeing on the battlefield is that, especially in the East, Russia has made some incremental gains. Of course, it's very tough fighting, as well as in the Kursk region as well. But when you talk about the upper hand, of course, tactically, again other than those incremental gains, what you're seeing strategically is that again Russia has not achieved any of its strategic objectives that it set for itself almost three years ago…
If you go back to February 2022, President Putin's strategic objective was to eliminate Ukraine as a country and that's still clearly his objective. But nearly three years later, the fact is that he has failed to achieve any of his strategic objectives. Ukraine is still a free country and importantly, it is still a country. NATO is of course bigger now and stronger." Ryder emphasised.
The major general also noted that even with the help of weapons from Iran and 12,000 troops from North Korea, Russia was unable to achieve any significant advances on the battlefield. The Pentagon spokesman noted that three years of large-scale invasion of Ukraine have significantly depleted Russian forces.
"Russia, when it comes to a lot of the strategic variables to include the manpower that it is committed to this fight and many of the other factors, including its defense industrial base, have all been weakened. And so, since the very beginning of this conflict, the United States and in particular the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, have worked very, very hard to help Ukraine win this war…And I'll just conclude with saying again, Ukraine is still standing, they're still fighting and Russia has not achieved the objective that it set out to accomplish three years ago." Ryder said.
Patrick Ryder also added that the losses of North Korean troops participating in the fighting on the side of Russia exceeded 1,000 people of various ranks - from soldiers to senior officers. Ryder emphasised that "the Ukrainians are holding the line well, although this is very difficult fighting."
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