If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth Leo Tolstoy’s book, War and Peace, which has over 580,000 words. It is posted below… The video shows 86 villages and towns that Russia has captured since September 2025. This video illustrates why the retired US military officers who appear on mainstream media to analyze the war in Ukraine are a bunch of clowns.

        30 November 2025 by Larry C. Johnson

During 2025, several retired and active duty US military leaders have publicly claimed that Russian gains are incremental, costly, and not indicative of a decisive breakthrough. These views align with analyses from think tanks like the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which describe Russian offensives as “grinding” and “foot-pace” with high casualties relative to territorial gains. Below is a list of notable figures who have made such statements in interviews, op-eds, or public forums this year. I’ve focused on direct quotes or paraphrases from verified 2025 sources:

General Ben Hodges (former U.S. Army Europe commander): In May 2025 remarks, he described a phase where “neither side can knock out the other,” highlighting Russia’s underperformance, failure to achieve air superiority, and high costs without decisive gains.

General Mark Hertling (Retired US Army Lieutenant General; former Commander, US Army Europe and Seventh Army): Russia’s advances are not like Pearl Harbor… an inflection point is coming due to failing Russian war economy and lack of leadership adaptation.” In June 2025, he highlighted Russia’s “creeping foot pace” around Kharkiv and Donetsk, estimating that at current rates (e.g., 4.4 years for full oblast capture per UK MoD data), offensives are effectively stalled against Ukrainian innovations like drones. In February 2023, Hertling also predicted that Russia’s offensive was “doomed to fail,” stating that an “unprepared army” with “untrained forces,” “inadequate equipment,” “poor leadership,” and no clear objectives is “destined for failure,” making troops “cannon fodder” unfit for any offensive.

Admiral James Stavridis (Retired US Navy Admiral; former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO): Russia has advantages, but not total dominance… any ‘success’ will come at a high cost.” In March 2025, he assessed that Russian forces’ “small advances” in Donetsk (e.g., near Avdiivka remnants) are unsustainable long-term, allowing Ukraine to “sustain resistance indefinitely” with European aid, as Moscow’s manpower and logistics strain prevents broader offensives.

General Jack Keane (former Army Vice Chief of Staff): On 25 October 2025, Keane said, “Russia has completely stalled in their military advances over the past year and sustained massive casualties.” In November 2025, Keane said that, “We’re far from this war ending. Russia hasn’t changed its goals… but [advances are] not possible to defeat Ukraine.”

General David Petraeus (Retired US Army General; former CIA Director and CENTCOM Commander): In August 2025, Petraeus co-authored a piece with Frederick Kagan that assessed Russia’s “slow, grinding pace” in eastern Ukraine as a result of degraded ground forces and overreliance on attrition tactics. He noted that despite small gains near Pokrovsk, Russia’s “decreasing quality” (e.g., high losses in elite units) prevents breakthroughs, projecting no major territorial shifts before 2026 without adaptation.

General Christopher Cavoli [Active US Army General (not retired as of Nov 2025); Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO)]: In a Senate hearing (shared on X), Cavoli stated Russia’s ground forces have “decreasing quality” overall, with “isolated areas of strength” but no broad momentum. He described 2025 advances as “not like Pearl Harbor,” emphasizing slow progress due to unanticipated high losses (far exceeding 2022 estimates) and Ukraine’s innovations in drones and defenses.

Unnamed Retired General (quoted without attribution in August 2025 Washington Postcolumn by David Ignatius): “Russia’s incremental battlefield advances so far in 2025 would take approximately 4.4 more years to gain 100% of the four Ukrainian oblasts’ territory” at current rates, per UK MoD data. This underscores stalled momentum, with gains offset by 1,000+ daily casualties and no encirclements.

I particularly enjoy General Petraeus’ bold prediction that there would be no major territorial shifts before 2026… Whoops! In light of the developments since September, David Ignatius may want to update his pathetic analysis that reflects the hopium of the CIA and the Pentagon.

https://sonar21.com/russia-is-moving-much-faster-than-us-military-experts-claim-who-could-have-predicted-that/

MEANWHILE:

Ukraine: Germany says Russia resisting negotiated peace
Louis Oelofse | Timothy Jones | Shakeel Sobhan with AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa

Germany says that despite diplomatic efforts, Russia has not done enough to engage in negotiations to end its war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Europe has reached a deal to phase out all Russian gas imports. DW has the latest.

https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-updates-germany-says-russia-resisting-negotiated-peace/live-74992928

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