Here are some of the thoughts of one of the participants in the discussion, Lieutenant General

Ben Goudges

, the former commander of the US forces in Europe, an adviser to the international human rights organization Human Rights First:

  • The Ukrainians continue to inflict heavy losses on the Russian troops who are trying to advance on Bakhmut.

    Bakhmut has no obvious military significance.

    It seems that for the Russians - especially for [the head of the private military company Wagner] Prigozhin - this has become a personal challenge.

    He wants to show that his powers are the most effective.

    Unfortunately, thousands of people will die as a result.

  • I take seriously the warnings of the commander of the Ukrainian troops, General Zaluzhnyi, and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Reznikov, that the Russians are planning to launch a new offensive from the north, possibly from Belarus.

  • The goal of such an operation could be an attack on Kyiv, or at least an attempt to stretch the forces of the Ukrainians and force them to divert resources from the main direction, which, in my opinion, is Melitopol and Crimea.

  • I'm a little skeptical about the ability of the Russians to concentrate the large forces necessary for such an operation and provide them with everything they need, but it is a serious threat.

    Probably, such an offensive can take place in the spring, if the Ukrainians fail to achieve significant success in the south and force the Russians to concentrate all their forces there.

  • I do not yet know to what extent Belarus is ready to participate in this... Ukraine has good intelligence, and the United States, Britain and other allies can provide additional information to get a clear picture of what is happening in Belarus.

    We will have a good understanding of what forces are being built up there, what are the logistics of military supplies.

  • I fully share the idea of ​​conducting extraordinary NATO military exercises in Lithuania and Poland in order to give Lukashenka an excuse before the Russians not to involve Belarusian troops in military actions against Ukraine.

    He will be able to say that NATO exercises are taking place on the western flank and it is necessary to react to it.

We will publish other predictions of the course of the war from the participants of the discussion, including the former Minister of Defense of Ukraine, on our website later.