MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is doomed to fail as the Russian military has the edge over its adversary in all respects, Jean-Bernard Pinatel, a retired French general, the former chief of SIPRA (Department of Information and Public Relations of the Armed Forces) and an expert on Russia and the Middle East, said in a video interview provided to TASS.
"I absolutely do not believe in the success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The Russians have a significant air superiority. But they also have an advantage on the ground. Even the Ukrainians themselves admit that they fire 4,000 shells a day, while Russia fires 20,000," said Pinatel, who specializes in Russia and the Middle East.
The general also said that the ratio of losses in equipment and personnel is 5 to 1 in favor of Russia. According to Pinatel, the Kiev regime is severely hampered by its lack of human resources.
"What we are witnessing today is a confrontation between a nuclear power and a country that, of course, is sponsored by the Anglo-Saxons, but which does not have significant technical and human potential," he said. "And I don't think that the biggest disadvantage Ukraine faces is so much the amount of military equipment, which, by the way, is not always of high quality, because the West supplies Kiev with outdated equipment. Ukraine's greatest vulnerability is its people, or rather a lack of them. Its best fighters have long been dead."
The general said he believes that, provided NATO doesn’t directly step into the conflict, Kiev's defeat is only a matter of time. The West's policy of prolonging the Ukrainian conflict "is only leading to more casualties," Pinatel said.
"Conversations about helping Ukraine until it wins are completely stupid and nonsensical. It will achieve nothing and will only increase the number of deaths among young Ukrainians and Russians," he said.
However, the US and Europe do not care, the retired French general said, because their main goal is not the victory of Ukraine, but the weakening of Russia.
Conflict weakened Europe, not Russia
Western sanctions, according to Pinatel, have done the most damage to Europe itself.
"Europe cannot do without Russian gas," he pointed out. "The global gas market, the European market in particular, cannot do without Russian supplies. Before the crisis, Europe used to consume 200 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, while North America supplied only 2 billion. Who are you going to replace Russia with?"
Europe is now facing an economic crisis, the general said.
"By the winter of 2022, Germany had managed to fill its gas storage facilities, which lasted it through the cold season, but it will not be enough for the next year," he said. "And many German companies have already closed their doors because of high gas prices. If Germany goes into recession, all of Europe, and France in particular, will be in trouble, because the Germans are our main economic partners."
Russia, on the contrary, is flourishing and developing economically, working hand in hand with Africa and Asia and developing partnerships, according to Pintel.
"This is because Russia is independent of the rest of the world in every way, be it raw materials, grain or energy, but the capitalist world cannot do without the resources supplied by Russia," he explained. "This war has weakened Europe more than Russia."
European leaders, the retired general went on to say, expected "the whole world to impose sanctions against Russia, but in reality, only about thirty countries have done so, and all the rest are using this opportunity to strengthen the partnership with Moscow."
He said strife is rampant in the bloc of countries that have joined forces against Russia.
"The Americans undoubtedly want to hobble economic cooperation between Europe and Russia, which would take away their domination on the international stage. The US strategy is to create a new Berlin Wall between Russia and Europe, but now that wall runs through Ukraine," Pinatel said.