Russia has resorted to a "campaign of terror" targeting Ukraine's civilian population after failing to achieve the strategic, operational and tactical objectives of its invasion, the top US general said Wednesday.
At the same time, it is unlikely that Ukraine can militarily force Russia out of all of the territory it occupies, General Mark Milley told journalists.
Russia is "imposing a campaign of terror, a campaign of maximum suffering on the Ukrainian civilian population in order to defeat Ukrainian morale," he said.
Many of the recent strikes -- including a barrage of dozens of missiles across Ukraine on Tuesday -- have targeted the country's energy infrastructure.
"The deliberate targeting of the civilian power grid, causing excessive collateral damage and unnecessary suffering on the civilian population, is a war crime," Milley said.
Moscow's attacks on civilian infrastructure -- which Milley said are likely to increase suffering this winter -- came after a string of Russian failures to achieve its military objectives in Ukraine.
"The Ukrainians have achieved success after success after success. And the Russians have failed every single time. They've lost strategically, they've lost operationally, and I repeat, they lost tactically," the general said.
At the same time, it is unlikely that Ukraine will militarily force Russian troops to quit the country soon.
"The probability of a Ukrainian military victory, defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine... anytime soon, is not high," Milley said, noting that there may however be a political solution that leads to a withdrawal of Moscow's forces.
