Pentagon warns it will be difficult to dislodge Russia from Donbas

The Pentagon warned Thursday that despite the success of ukrainian in Kharkiv (northeast), the Russian army is consolidating its position in Donbas and the south of the country, so the conflict could last a long time.

Russian forces continue to have problems with cohesion, soldier morale and logistics, a senior US defense official told reporters, without confirming the purges in the Russian military command mentioned by London.

Look: Mariupol Falls Near Azovstal Steelworks: Which Direction Will the War Take Now?

But “We are going to be very cautious in our predictions”he added.

“We are absolutely determined to do everything to help Ukrainians defend themselves, including training them in the use of the capabilities we are providing.”continued the senior official, who requested anonymity.

“They perform very well on the battlefield, they have no cohesion or command problems, their logistics and supplies are truly historic”he added.

“But the Russians still have a significant part of the capabilities they had accumulated since the fall” on the borders of Ukraine, he stressed.

“Combat capacity is not enough to win a war: you need to have the will to fight, to have a good command“, he pointed. But, despite everything, “we continue to believe that this conflict will last”.

The Russian army, now focusing its efforts in southern Ukraine to build a bridge linking Russian territory with the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014, took control of the port of Mariupol after the surrender of Ukrainian soldiers defending the steel mill in Azovstal.

Source: Elcomercio

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