Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day speech may not have been the speech of a victor. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address sure sounded like one. And with good reason.
Russia’s Plan A, a blitzkrieg to take Kyiv decapitate the Ukrainian government, failed spectacularly. Moscow’s Plan B, a more methodical campaign to seize Eastern and Southern Ukraine, is sputtering and faltering.
And to add insult to injury, Ukrainian forces have forced Russian troops to retreat from the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv.
Suddenly there is talk of Ukraine not just surviving, but winning this war outright. Is this premature? What does the situation on the ground portend? On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of U.S. Army Europe about why Ukraine is overperforming and Russia is underperforming in the war.