Army Inspector General Alphonse Mies warned against underestimating Russia’s armed forces as Russia’s resources “are inexhaustible”.
For the first time, a serving general of a NATO country admits that in the war of attrition in Ukraine, Russia is more likely to emerge victorious because it has abundant resources.
“With its superiority in artillery, the Russian army is apparently moving forward kilometer by kilometer. This is a war of attrition that raises the question of how much Ukraine can endure,” he told Handelsblatt.
At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Mais caused a stir when he wrote on his personal LinkedIn page that the German Army was “pretty naked”.
“After Russia failed in the first phase and was unable to capture Kyiv, it has been regrouping its troops since late March, concentrating them in a smaller area and refocusing the offensive.
With its superiority in artillery, the Russian army is apparently advancing kilometer by kilometer. This is a war of attrition that raises the question of how long Ukraine can last. I’m not just talking about hardware, I’m also talking about personnel.”
“It can be seen that the omens were wrong about how the war would develop. We see no cyber war and no kind of surgical, “clean” war dominated by high technology.
And he adds: “Russia started the war naively, the attack on Kyiv was a disaster. But I caution against underestimating Russia. Armies that have sailed close to defeat learn faster.”
The human losses suffered by the Russian Army are not of great importance.
“Of course, the armed forces there are learning from the experience of the Ukrainian war. The Russian army is getting stronger. And Russia has resources that are almost inexhaustible. In an authoritarian system, the casualty rate among your own soldiers doesn’t seem to matter. The media has aligned and public support is apparently still high. That probably wouldn’t be understandable to us.”
Many Russian media picked up the interview, showing that the strength of the Russian Army is not Kremlin propaganda, but confirmed by German officials.
