Is Russia “Starting to Fail” In Ukraine? Britain Says Yes – Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said during a press conference on Thursday that Russia’s war in Ukraine was “starting to fail” and that its military had “faltered” in its efforts to demilitarize the country.
Speaking to a conference of international donors in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wallace reaffirmed the British government’s determination to help Ukraine push Russian troops back over the border in the east.
“(Russian forces) have failed so far, and are unlikely to ever succeed in occupying Ukraine,” he said. “Their invasion has faltered and constantly been re-modified to the extent they are really only focusing in parts of the south and in the east.”
Wallace noted that the war, which is entering its sixth month, has come a “long, long way” from the Kremlin’s initial expectations that conquering the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv would last only a matter of days.
The British defense secretary also suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin had gambled that, come August, the world would have “got bored” of the conflict and that the international community would have reduced its support for Kyiv.
“Well, today is proof of the opposite,” he said.
Britain Will Send More Rocket Launchers
Wallace also used his time at the Copenhagen conference to commit to supplying Ukraine with additional rocket launchers from the United Kingdom’s own supplies.
The British government, Wallace said, is preparing to supply Ukraine with additional multiple-launch rocket systems that are capable of striking targets as far away as 40 miles. The latest round of military support from the UK, he said, will “enable the Armed Forces of Ukraine to continue to defend against Russian aggression and the indiscriminate use of long-range artillery.”
26 Countries Pledge Additional Funds and Support to Ukraine
During the same conference, which gathered representatives from 26 countries, more than 1.5 billion euros were committed to Ukraine’s fight. The money will be used to supply additional weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, to help train Ukrainian soldiers to use NATO-standard weapons that have been flowing into the country for the past several months, and also to de-mine war-torn areas across the country.
“We will continue to assist Ukraine in its military needs,” Danish Defense Minister Morten Bodskov told journalists at the end of the conference.
Defense ministers representing Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic also indicated their willingness to increase the manufacturing of artillery systems, ammunition, and other military equipment that would ultimately be supplied to Ukraine.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
