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West, Ukraine overestimate their strength in conflict with Russia — Finnish top brass

According to Antti Hakkanen, a positional conflict aimed at attrition could drag on for years and wear Ukraine down

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen REUTERS/Johanna Geron

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen

© REUTERS/Johanna Geron

WASHINGTON, December 22. /TASS/. Russia is capable of continuing the special operation in Ukraine for a long time, while Western countries and Ukraine have overestimated their forces in the conflict, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told Politico.

"Russia has the capability and the ability to go on with this <...> [special military operation] for years," he said. "Many are overestimating that the West is winning this, that Ukraine is winning."

Valeriy Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' commander-in-chief, told the British magazine The Economist in early November that the conflict over Ukraine had reached a stalemate and that Ukrainian troops would not be able to achieve a breakthrough on the front. According to him, a positional conflict aimed at attrition could drag on for years and wear Ukraine down.

The Ukrainian army has been conducting unsuccessful offensive attempts since early June. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Kiev has lost 159,000 troops, 121 aircraft, 766 tanks and 2,348 armored vehicles during this time. The Russian side has repeatedly emphasized that the offensive has failed to bring significant results to Ukraine. In recent weeks, the West and Kiev have repeatedly stated that the counter-offensive has not been successful enough and that there is a stalemate on the front for the Ukrainian side.

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Ukraine crisis Finland

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