Putin has already lost says America’s top general as Russia claims breakthroughs

Russian forces have suffered enormous battlefield defeats in Ukraine and Putin has almost certainly already lost his war according to the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. 

“In short, Russia has lost,” America’s top general told reporters on February 14th after a meeting with NATO’s defense minister in Brussels.

"They've lost strategically, operationally, and tactically," General Milley continued, before adding that Vladimir Putin “thought he could defeat Ukraine quickly, fracture the NATO alliance, and act with impunity. He was wrong.”

"Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience,” the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.

“Ukraine remains free, they remain independent," Milley said triumphantly, "NATO and this coalition has never been stronger.”

General Milley’s comments came on the heels of news that Russian forces have suffered several major defeats all along their invasion front in Ukraine’s eastern Oblasts. 

In Vuhledar, Ukrainian forces broke the 155th Marine Brigade and destroyed at least 3o Russian vehicles according to Reuters, while Politico reported that “almost the entire brigade” was “destroyed” in the fighting. 

In the Bahkmut area, Ukraine launched a small, but successful, counter-attack that pushed Russian forces away from Chasiv Yar and back behind the T0504 highway, a road that formerly served as a key supply route for the city of Bakhmut according to Ukrainian military blogger Denys Davydov. 

On February the 15th, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had broken through two fortified defense lines in Ukraine’s east according to Reuters’ Pavel Polityuk, though the information could not be confirmed. 

"During the offensive,” the Russian Defense Ministry wrote on its Telegram channel, “Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km from the previously occupied lines."

"Even the more fortified second line of defense of the enemy could not hold the breakthrough of the Russian military," Defense Ministry officals added. 

The news of Russian breakthroughs in Ukraine's east has been disputed by Serhii Haidai, the Regional Governor of Luhansk, who said that the Russian Ministry of Defense’s statement “does not correspond to reality.”

The meeting NATO’s Defense Ministers attended on February 14th was called to help prevent any type of Russian breakthrough from occurring, with member states working together to provide more aid to Ukraine. 

"Ukraine has urgent requirements to help it meet this crucial moment in the course of the war," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the assembled defense ministers of NATO’s allied countries. 

"The Kremlin is still betting it can wait us out,” Austin continued, “but one year on we are as united as ever. That shared resolve will help sustain Ukraine's momentum in the crucial weeks ahead."

The weeks ahead are likely to be some of the bloodiest for Ukraine and its defense forces, but as General Milley said in his address, Putin has already paid an “enormous price on the battlefield,” one that you will continue to rise as Russia tries to win a war it's already lost.