Matthew Chance is
OUTFRONT live in London.
And Matthew,
Ukraine edging closer
to that long awaited
counteroffensive tonight.
Already it appears dealing the worst day
to Putin's Air Force.
Not just of this war,
but in more than 50 years.
Yeah.
And if Ukraine's
got anything to do with it,
there will be more very bad days
for Putin in the weeks
and the months ahead
that Ukrainian control offensive.
It's not quite underway yet
as far as we can make out,
but it is poised to take place.
When it does,
it will be with the help
of Western training for its armies.
And, of course, Western weapons on that.
President Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine
has been on a European tour
for the past week,
and his officials are tonight
calling it a huge success
because they've got billions of dollars
of military aid from Germany
and more advanced weaponry from Britain
and from France.
The war in Ukraine may be
at a turning point,
with Ukrainian forces
reporting daily advances
in the city of Bamako,
with Russian positions there
apparently crumbling.
Even this, that
that was the tragedy tonight.
Now, the extraordinary allegation
carried in The Washington Post,
this man,
Yevgeny Prigozhin,
the Russian Wagner mercenary leader,
offered Ukraine intelligence
on Russian military positions
if Kiev withdrew its troops from back
to where Wagner has been fighting
the war that he just
Prigozhin has vehemently denied it.
Releasing an audio statement
accusing comrades in Moscow
of trying to discredit him personally, or
even Ukraine, it's dismissed any talk
with its bitter enemies.
A senior Ukrainian official telling CNN
that if Prigozhin had been backchannel
without the knowledge of the Kremlin,
he would not be alive today.
As he walked in.
These are fraught times
for friends of the Kremlin.
One of its backers,
Alexander
Lukashenko of neighboring Belarus,
The Victory Day
parade in Moscow
last week
is rumored to have been taken ill.
Later appearing looking uneasy
at a wreath
laying ceremony in his capital, Minsk,
an official in Belarus told CNN
he's, quote, absolutely fine.
And now new video
said to be of Lukashenko
at work as usual,
inspecting air defenses.
But rumors abound
about the health of this aging
Kremlin backed leader
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official
is calling President Zelensky's
European tour a huge success
This the latest leg
with the British prime minister
at his country residence
where attack drones
and air defense systems were pledged
I look forward to us
discussing what more
we can do to support
you and your country.
First of all, thank you very much.
Your support is already a lot for us
with British cruise missiles already
delivered to Ukraine.
Britain is now
at the forefront
of providing long range weapons.
There was no promise
of Game-Changing
F-16s fighter jets
from any European power.
Still,
a senior
Ukrainian official tells
CNN that in time,
Ukraine will get the planes, the tanks
and the long range weapons
it needs to win this war.
But, Erin, that is contingent
on Western support for Ukraine.
Including its continued
provision of arms
holding up, particularly
from the United States,
because even with the latest European
contribution to the Ukrainian war effort,
it is still the U.S.
That's the biggest,
most important military backer
for the country Erin.
All right, Matthew, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to retired
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges,
because he's the former
commanding general of the U.S.
Army Europe and also the former U.S.
ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan.
I appreciate both of you very much.
General Hodges,
I want to start with this.
Worse day for the Russian Air
Force really since 1970
more than 50 years,
certainly of this war
for Russian aircraft
downed over Russian territory
this weekend.
What impact does this have? General?
Well,
to lose four aircraft in one day
would certainly send shockwaves
through the aviation community
of the Russian Federation.
Forces, just like it would anybody.
I'm interested in how this happened.
It seems that Ukraine may have been able
to infiltrate capabilities in there.
Still not entirely confirmed
how it happened.
But if they're able to do that,
that that would really demonstrate
a level of sophistication
that will worry the Russians.
But it's
it's important
that Russia not be allowed
to have sanctuary.
The launch strikes
that murder innocent Ukrainian people.
And so the Ukrainians
are going to continue to take action.
This, I think,
and obviously to emphasize
on Russian territory where this happened.
Ambassador Sullivan, Putin's
most loyal ally.
But you heard Matthew reporting
on the Belarusian President Lukashenko.
You know, he said Belarus,
an air
defense units were placed on high alert
after the downing
of those Russian aircraft. Right.
He is there
every step of the way for Putin. Right.
So Belarus's role as ally is crucial
and he is the dictator there.
There has been such speculation
about his health, though,
Two photos of him today
appears to have
a bandage on his left wrist.
He obviously,
it appears, fell ill in Moscow.
If something were wrong with him,
if he was no longer in power,
what would that do to Putin, Ambassador?
That's a big problem for Putin.
As you
mentioned, Erin Lukashenko,
President Lukashenko has as ruled Belarus
as with
a hard authoritarian hand
for almost 30 years,
was a vital supporter
of Putin's war against Ukraine.
He's the one foreign leader
that Putin meets
with more than anyone else.
I think he's met with in something
like 14 times
since since the war started.
So he is his most important ally.
So General
Hodges, you know, most important ally,
but he had to leave
that meeting in Moscow.
It appeared to take ill there
and he is Putin's closest ally.
I'm curious, General, though,
because you seem to think
that the downfall of Lukashenko
could actually give Putin something
that he wants,
possibly an excuse
to end the war in Ukraine.
Well, I see it as an opportunity.
If he is looking around for an excuse
to get out of this war,
that he is losing terribly in Ukraine.
He could
I mean, the Kremlin is pretty good
at manufacturing fairy tales
to explain what it is they're doing.
And so in
order to justify
why they might have to avoid
getting crushed
in Ukraine to actually withdraw.
You could almost envision a scenario
where the saving Belarus would be the
the excuse of the needs.
Of course, I don't I don't know that.
What I would really hope would happen
is that the people of Belarus
would see the opportunity
to finally throw off
the yoke of Kremlin suppression
as well as from their own president.
All right.
And of course, we should note right,
there are opposition
leaders in Belarus
one of them
serving a 17 year prison sentence.
It is a mirror image of Russia
in so many ways.
Ambassador,
I want to ask you about that
intelligence leak that I mentioned
regarding Yevgeny Prigozhin,
and this is from The Washington Post.
You they're saying that in the
you know, the leaked information
from that
young man in
Massachusetts that Prigozhin back
channeled Ukraine
offered information
about Russian troop positions
so that the Ukrainians could kill them
and that he could
then take over back mute.
That would be the exchange
and get the credit for it.
True or not.
Let's just start with how is this news
impacting Putin, possibly
Well, it certainly
I think
what would shake
leaders confidence in this criminal
that they've put in charge
of this mercenary brigade.
Prigozhin isn't a military leader
and the Wagner Group
is a transnational criminal organization.
So designated by the United States.
This isn't a military
and military leadership.
This is a criminal gang.
And to the extent that Putin
has relied on people like this
he's paying the price now with Prigozhin
possibly doing this
and at a minimum
saying things
like the Russian minister of defense
and the chief of the general staff
that they're traitors and cowards.
General, when you look
at the state of the war
right now on the ground,
you come on the heels of Zelensky, right?
You just heard him there
thanking the British prime minister
for the support.
Right.
And you're getting those shadow
cruise missiles from the U.K.
that give them more distance.
You're getting the aid
that you're
getting extremely significant aid
from both the U.K. and from Germany.
Do you think that
the tide is going to change here or not?
Yeah,
I think we're looking
at the beginning
of a major momentum shift.
This just didn't happen by accident.
Of course,
Ukrainian general staff and President
Joe Lenski
and frankly,
all 50 nations
that support Ukraine
have been working very hard
for the last few months.
But it really was
Ukrainian forces that have managed
to put together a large armored formation
that's been training and preparing
while other Ukrainian forces held
back, moved
and allowed Russian forces
to bleed themself there.
And then when you put that
against all these,
the other good news
that's been happening,
you do have the sense
that we could be very close to
Ukraine achieving catastrophic success
in this counteroffensive.
Preconditions, number one,
are the Ukrainians ready?
Number two,
have they degraded the Russians enough?
And then number three,
is the ground ready
when those three conditions are set?
I think General Giuliani
will turn to his president
and say, we're ready to go.
Right.
A ground
that is a you know,
not not so soft from the melting.
Thank you both so very much.
I appreciate it.