NBC Boston, May 2022
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds into its third month with no resolution in sight, NATO leaders are bracing for an interminable war in Europe. The possibility that Ukraine may remain a deadly battlefield is fueling concerns about continued continental and global instability for months, or even years, to come. Harvard scholar Oleh Kotsyuba and Northeastern University professors Mai’a Cross and Pablo Calderon explained why they disagree with that line of thinking in NBC10 Boston’s weekly series, “Russia-Ukraine Q&A.”
Russia recently launched a new offensive in the south and east of Ukraine after failing to hold control of northern areas, including the city of Kyiv. Cross chalked this failure up to a series of bad decisions that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made over the course of the war.
“Russia has been a loser in all of this. We have to acknowledge the fact that Russia is much weaker than many military analysts thought,” Cross said. “I think that there can be this protracted conflict, particularly in parts of the Donbas, but it’s going to be very hard for Russia to hold onto any territory that it it claims to have gained in some way.”
