State of the Union: Ukraine's incursion in Russia is 'changing the momentum', says US general

euronews (in English)

This edition of State of the Union focuses on the ongoing Ukrainian incursion in Russia and the latest spat between the EU and Hungary over Budapest's easing of immigration laws to include Russian and Belorussian nationals.

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to State of the Union, I'm Stefan Grobe in Brussels.

00:10The summer break is almost over and official business at the European institutions is picking

00:15up again, slowly.

00:17One of the stories that kept EU officials busy throughout the summer was Hungary's anti-immigration

00:22government's decision to ease the country's immigration scheme.

00:26Yes, you heard that right.

00:29That immigration scheme allows foreign workers to stay in Hungary for at least two years

00:34and can pave the way towards permanent residency.

00:37Budapest has now relaxed this rule to include nationals from Russia and Belarus.

00:43This week, and not for the first time, Nordic and Baltic countries expressed concern that

00:49such a policy could be a serious security risk for the entire EU.

00:54Here's the foreign minister of Latvia.

00:57There was never Schengen free for Russian diplomats with hostile intention and there

01:01was never Schengen free for possible security breaches by certain countries.

01:08So this is why we take it very seriously as a security risk.

01:12The worry, of course, is that Russian spies and saboteurs could infiltrate the EU and

01:17commit all sorts of crimes.

01:20Budapest dismissed such concerns, saying that the Hungarian scheme was in accordance with

01:24the relevant EU framework.

01:27All this unfolds against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

01:31This week, Russia continued its missile and drone strikes, targeting especially energy

01:36facilities.

01:37Moscow's latest attacks are perceived as an effort to regain control of the conflict,

01:43following Ukraine's recent territorial gains in Russia's Kursk region.

01:48The Ukrainian incursion started on August the 6th and has been surprisingly sustained.

01:54A Swedish TV crew had access to Ukrainian-held Russian territory and produced a rare interview

01:59with Ukrainian soldiers.

02:02Here's what they had to say.

02:24Let's bring in a man now who knows a thing or two about war tactics, retired Lieutenant

02:29General Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe, who joins us from Frankfurt.

02:34Welcome to the program.

02:36Thank you very much for the opportunity.

02:38So this Ukrainian operation in Russia is very likely not the beginning of a full-scale invasion.

02:45How would you characterize it?

02:47Does it make any sense from a military point of view?

02:50This counteroffensive that Ukraine has launched in the Kursk direction is, I think, a brilliant

02:56stroke that is changing the momentum of the conflict.

03:00It's also changing the narrative about the inevitable Russian victory.

03:05It's too early to tell how far they plan to go or how long they plan to stay, or if it's

03:11having an effect on Russian operations in the east yet.

03:15But I don't think that this is a standalone operation.

03:18It's part of a larger multi-domain effort by the Ukrainians.

03:23After more than three weeks, we haven't really seen a Russian response.

03:28Why do you think that is?

03:29Are they lacking resources?

03:31Are they lacking a plan?

03:33What's going on here?

03:34Great question.

03:35I think it's attributable to a couple of things.

03:38First of all, on the Russian side, you've got rivalry and hatred between the general

03:44staff and the FSB and the border forces, which are under control of the FSB.

03:49These guys hate each other, and so there never has been much cooperation between them.

03:55We saw that during the Purgosian mutiny.

03:58But also, Putin, of course, this is bad for him to have to deal with this.

04:03And I think he's trying to ignore the Kursk operation, turns it over to FSB.

04:08You guys treat it like a terrorist operation or counterterrorist operation.

04:13So I think he's trying to avoid having to address what is a really significant problem.

04:20Is Russia's military weaker than we all think?

04:24I would say we have continued to overestimate Russian capabilities.

04:29The problem is, because they don't care how many soldiers are killed, that's not a factor

04:36for them to consider.

04:39They still have a lot of people that they can feed into this sort of meat grinder, and

04:44they still have enormous quantities of rockets and glide bombs and missiles that, because

04:51of U.S. and other European government policies, the Ukrainians are not able to strike the

04:58origin of these attacks.

05:00And so Russia still has a lot of fight left in it.

05:05And finally, to what extent does the Ukrainian operation in Russia help the Ukrainians at

05:10the front lines in their own territory?

05:12I think this does a couple of things.

05:15First of all, psychologically, it is a huge morale boost.

05:18I mean, when you've been sitting in the defense getting bombed day after day after day, most

05:24soldiers, they really want to hit back somehow.

05:27If this draws away Russian forces that are currently operating in the east, that should

05:32relieve some of the pressure on Ukrainian forces.

05:35I just can't tell yet how much.

05:37All right.

05:39General Ben Hodges, former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, thank you so much for

05:43your analysis today.

05:45Thank you for the privilege of being on your program.

05:49And now let's go from one ongoing war in Europe to one that ended a long time ago, at least

05:55for the people of Paris.

05:57This week, the French capital marked the 80th anniversary of its liberation by Allied forces

06:02from Nazi occupation, nine months before the end of World War II.

06:08That day in August in 1944, 1,532 days of nightmare came to an end, as French President

06:16Emmanuel Macron said at the ceremony.

06:19More than 1,400 Parisians lost their lives in street battles during the summer of 1944,

06:25until Allied soldiers, together with French fighting forces, raced to the relief of the city.

06:31The parade led by General de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French, has become an indelible

06:36part of France's collective memory.

06:39De Gaulle's successor Macron then turned back his focus to the present and praised the Olympic

06:45summer of flame and joy, an event Macron said that will still be remembered 80 years from now.

06:54That's it for this edition.

06:55I'm Stephan Grobe.

06:57Have an excellent week.

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