Russia Unable to Learn From Their Mistakes—Retired Lt. General

Russian forces in Ukraine do not have "the culture to learn from mistakes," according to a former U.S. Army commander.

Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who previously served as a commander of the U.S. Army's forces in Europe, wrote on Twitter that he was "sure Ukraine will win" the war, as "the Russian military is not a learning organization."

He suggested that Russia's military, by "failing to ensure field discipline and force protection in the combat zone" after ten months of warfare indicated a lack of effective leadership and a "culture to learn from mistakes."

Russia's progress in Ukraine has been met with fierce resistance since the invasion began on February 24.

Dr. Marina Miron, of the Centre for Military Ethics at King's College London, told Newsweek that Russia is contending with a similar problem all militaries with "rigid, hierarchical structures" will face.

Moscow must adapt faster to the resistance it comes up against in Ukraine, Miron argued, which will inevitably take time and is "especially difficult" in Ukraine.

"To add to the issue is the fact that the Russians were not prepared for the kind of war they got themselves into," according to Miron.

She added that Ukraine's success would likely "depend not only on Russia's mistakes but on the will and the morale of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ukraine's population in general," as well as the continued backing of Western countries.

On Tuesday, the head of the mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, admitted that the organization's progress around the embattled town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine had been slow.

He told Russian state media outlet Ria Novosti the group had come up against a "fortress" in the homes of Bakhmut's residents in the key settlement.

Referring specifically to Bakhmut, Miron argued that although Kyiv's forces may currently have the initiative on the battlefield, Bakhmut is one of the areas in which the Kremlin is "making slow but seemingly steady progress."

According to the British Ministry of Defense, both official Russian forces and "Wagner proxy forces" had "likely increased the frequency of their infantry assaults" around Bakhmut ahead of the new year.

The ministry wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that "many of these operations were poorly supported," adding it was "unlikely Russia will achieve a significant breakthrough near Bakhmut in the coming weeks."

However, the ministry said both Russia's and Kyiv's forces had suffered significant casualties in the contested area of eastern Ukraine.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.