Robert Evan Ellis, a research professor at the US Army War College (USAWC), believes that Russia underestimated Ukraine’s defense capabilities and tactical knowledge and that is why its invasion plans have taken longer than expected. Regarding a possible use of nuclear weapons, he maintains that it is only a threat tactic by Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with the GEN channel, Ellis spoke about the conflict taking place in Ukraine and pointed out that the performance of the Russians was not what they expected.
In his opinion, they entered the cadre of his troops without proper training and failed in their objective of defeating the Ukrainian defense system, which has been effective so far during this invasion.
The hope of achieving a rapid collapse of the Ukrainian defenses and rapid entry into Kiev did not occur, so the conflict dragged on longer than the Russians expected, Ellis said.
All these situations have promoted the support of other countries such as Germany, Finland or Switzerland, who have abandoned their characteristic neutrality to offer support to Ukraine with the donation of weapons, among other issues.
Russia underestimated the way in which the Ukrainian military have increased their knowledge, as well as the fact that they know the terrain perfectly, since they are the ones who live in that area, he added.
The American expert from the US Army War College considers that, due to the use of lethal weapons against civilian populations in Ukraine, the government of Vladimir Putin faces an increasingly united international community.
Regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons by Russia, Ellis said that for now it can only be considered as a threat tactic by Putin within this conflict that began last Thursday after the invasion of the Russian military in Ukraine.
In his opinion, the Russian attack was “incomplete” and they did it when the Ukrainians still had enough capacity to defend themselves, causing more casualties than expected in their ranks.
#APoint ☑
? We know that, at the moment, things remain on the sidelines, but how far can the escalation of the war go?
? The excellent analysis of US Army War College research professor Robert Evan Ellis.
? https://t.co/0GJou16zAX
? @Universo970py pic.twitter.com/v8tvjQVI2C– GEN (@SomosGENNow) March 1, 2022
