Gen. Ben Hodges says that Vladimir Putin “should be looking at the disaster he has on his hands in the Kursk Region of Russia and the total ineptitude of his military.” It is so bad, says the experienced General, that he sees no way that a Russian military leader could seriously hope that they will conquer all of Ukraine. In fact, Russia not being able to expel Ukraine from the Kursk Region of Russia is indicative of much larger problems within the Russian military that are compounding by the day, Gen. Hodges explains to Kyiv Post’s Jason Jay Smart.Looking ahead, the General suggests that the West does not give Ukraine nearly enough credit for its many successes and ingenuity, something that prevents many Westerners from realizing how well Ukraine is really doing.During this interview, General Hodges references an initiative of the Renewal Democracy Initiative (RDI), on which he sits on the Board, which is chaired by Garry Kasparov, that is calling on Chancellor Sholz of Germany to send weapons to Ukraine: https://rdi.org/articles/garry-kaspar…To support this initiative, Kasparov’s organization has started a petition calling on Scholz to assist Ukraine. The petition can be found here: https://www.deutsche-verantwortung.de/General Ben Hodges, who commanded the US Army in Europe from 2014 until 2017, says that Western policymakers need to open their eyes to a hard truth: Russia is only emboldened by the empty phrases we use to describe support for Ukraine, as we are unwilling to say that “we will do all that we can for Ukraine to win.”Jason Smart, in Ukraine, conducted this interview with General Ben Hodges, in Germany, on August 21, 2024.Chapters:00:00 Intro00:12 What are Ukrainians doing in the Kursk region of Russia?03:32 Why aren’t Russians moving faster away from Donbas?06:45 The Russian military was caught unprepared10:32 If Russia wishes to send troops from Donbas15:15 Russian soldiers are surrendering en masse18:13 Will Crimea be decisive in this war?21:34 What hope do Russian generals have?25:07 What more weapons could Germany and the US give to Ukraine?31:13 What other things do you see going on that are worth noting?33:00 End