Now to Scott Ritter. Ritter is a Marine who spent substantial time on the ground in Russia (as a weapons controller) and in Iraq. Keep in mind that in the early phases of the war in Ukraine, Ritter over-estimated how quickly Russia would be able to wind up the conflict. He is still very firmly of the view not only that Russia is winning but makes the strong-form claim that Russia will succeed in getting NATO to withdraw to its fall of the USSR boundaries, based on some moves Russia is making with Belarus (more on that shortly).

As you’ll also see through the key points highlighted below, and even more so if you watch the entire video, Ritter stresses that the “Russia is bogged down” assertions are based on either miscomprehension or misrepresentation of how Russia is conducting its campaign. For instance, it has not taken Kiev because it does not intend to take Kiev.