Ukraine says its air defenses
fought off a Russian attack overnight,
shooting down dozens of drones
and cruise missiles
at key military airfield in western
Ukraine was among the target.
The Kiev also says of Russia.
A Russian guided bomb hit a blood
transfusion center in the city
of town on Saturday, set it on fire.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky says
there were casualties,
but we don't have those numbers yet.
CNN military analyst Lieutenant
General Mark Hertling joins me now.
General, we're seeing increasing
strikes from the Ukrainians
using drones and high profile drone hits
over the last couple of days,
including a naval landing ship,
a fuel tanker,
as there are some challenges
getting the counteroffensive
to the level at which they're hoping for.
How can these drone strikes
turn that momentum?
Well, the
offensive, first of all, Victor,
I would suggest, is going slower
than many expected,
not slower than I expected,
to be honest with you.
They're
conducting some very tough operations.
They are through
the first of three
defensive belts
in the southeast toward
Verdansk and military to critical areas.
But the drones strikes
that they have been used, that
the Ukrainians have been using against
Russia has forced
the Russian commanders to look at places
they need to defend,
places
that they would not have
expected months ago.
Places, you know,
we're talking about a country
that doesn't have a Navy Ukraine
conducting naval operations and sinking
several Russian ships or damaging them.
At least that's pretty significant.
It causes the Russians to pull off
some of the areas
that they've been defending,
to defend areas
they didn't expect to defend.
And that all requires resources.
Let's talk about the summit in Jeddah
in Saudi Arabia.
The crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman,
held this summit of dozens of world
leaders, hosted Ukrainians,
but not the Russians, to
try to get to some
framework, some
discussion to a peace deal eventually.
What's your degree of confidence
in what we saw in Jeddah?
Well, I'm glad you asked that question,
because not many are covering this
critically important conference.
Close to 50 nations attended.
Russia was not one of them.
In that conference,
President Zelinsky was able to
present his ten point peace plan,
which is fascinating in terms
of looking at the future.
So it's a commitment to future security
within Ukraine.
And what President Lindsey
expects out of the end of the war,
things such as restoring
Ukraine's territorial integrity,
the withdrawal of Russian troops
and the cessation of
of activities,
releasing all prisoners and deportees
especially the children
that have been deported
to Russia, the thousands
of children,
justice, including the special tribunal.
And there are six others
that I didn't mention.
So this is an opportunity
for Ukraine to present
what they're looking for
in order
to even come to the peace
table with Russia.
This isn't just a, hey,
we're going to trade this for this.
Mr.
Zelensky has said
specifically what he wants
out of
any kind of relationship with Russia.
And it's going to be a tough road
to hoe, Victor, to be honest with you,
because those are
some difficult challenges
that Russia is not going to agree to.
One other topic here a pending decision
by the U.S.
on whether to designate the US Army
soldier, Travis King, who crossed
from South Korea and North Korea
last month
to declare him as a prisoner of war.
He faces assault
charges in South Korea,
was going to be sent back
to Fort Bliss in Texas.
This is about treatment of King
while he's in North Korea.
Should he be declared a P.O.W.?
What do you think
Well, I don't think
so, Victor, but it's a tough call.
And the reason
I say
no is
because a prisoner of war
gets all kinds of
actually things like pay there
continue to be paid
while there are prisoner.
In King's case, he willingly deserted
into North Korea
when he was about to undergo
some legal actions.
So that's a that's a different category.
We've seen this before.
And it's a tough call
because certainly, you know,
the United States
wants to take care
of all of its citizens.
But in this case, this was a willing
desertion by a soldier
to go into a foreign country.
There was no taking of him as a prisoner.
He walked across the line
that that's
going to cause
some interesting legal debates
within the Pentagon,
in the State Department.
But we'll see what happens.
I personally don't believe
he should be declared
as a prisoner of war.
Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling,
good to see you. Thank you, sir.