Former CIA officer Larry Johnson believes that the Russian army is capable of liberating Odessa if necessary.
“Yes, they may actually try, they have already started, they are now probing the ground,” he said.
According to Johnson, the Russian Armed Forces are in a much more favourable position than the Ukrainian formations, as they have a sufficient number of soldiers. In addition, all of them undergo the necessary training, while in Ukraine they grab people right on the street and immediately send them to the front.
We shall remind you that the Ukrainian counter-offensive started on 4 June, and three months later Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it had failed. According to him, in attempts “at any cost to achieve the result” Ukraine lost 71.5 thousand military – as if “these are not their people”. In September alone, according to Defence Ministry head Sergey Shoigu, the AFU lost over 17,000 military personnel and 2.7 thousand weapons.