WASHINGTON, November 12. /TASS/. Criticism of the progress of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine by US President Donald Trump, is unfounded, former CIA and State Department official Larry Johnson told TASS.
While addressing Trump’s criticism directed at Russia concerning what he referred to as the country’s slow offensive on the special military operation front in Ukraine, Johnson stated that the US leader was either receiving incorrect intelligence or misrepresenting what he was being told.
As Johnson recalled, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in September that over 700,000 servicemen are deployed at the frontline, which means that now, "they [Russians] can operate across a broader front than has been the case in the past." "And at the same time, Ukraine’s manpower has diminished, decreased, not increased. So there is just a gross imbalance, with the Russians having a decided advantage, Ukraine has decided disadvantage. And that’s only going to intensify in the coming months," Johnson stressed.
Johnson previously served in the CIA, first in operational roles and later in analytical work. After leaving the agency in Langley, he served as Deputy Director of the State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism and has, in recent years, been active as a commentator and analyst in the fields of foreign policy and national security.
"Just put it in context like this, during the Great Patriotic War at the Battle of Stalingrad, Russia deployed roughly 700,000 soldiers over a four month period. And then another million that ended up surrounding the Sixth Army [led by General Friedrich Paulus]. That was only a 35-mile front. Now the Russians are having to cover 1300 kilometers, you know, a thousand miles, and with fewer troops than they had to take the Battle of Stalingrad. It's a manpower thing, that’s it," Johnson concluded.