Ben Hodges: Lots of people were worried about Crimea being a red line for Putin, instead it’s a red line for the commander of the Russian Navy, which now is being relocated from Crimea

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges is the former Commanding General of the US Army Europe, is now the Senior Advisor to Human Rights First. Gen. Hodges also serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics. He is a co-author of the book “Future War and the Defence of Europe” published by the Oxford University Press.

On crossing the so-called Putin`s red lines:

1. “These are self-imposed red lines, and we continue to self-deter for 20 months. Every month there is a new red line that we declared or assumed is crossed, and nothing happens. The one that some people were worried about the most is that if Crimea falls or looks so vulnerable, that’s the red line for the Russians. And instead it’s apparently a red line for the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, who is now having to relocate because their vulnerability has been exposed by the use of British provided Storm Shadow. The [Russian] Black Sea Fleet is departing Crimea because of what Ukraine is able to do, even though Ukraine doesn’t have a navy.” 

2. “I am glad that the US finally felt that it could provide a version of ATACMS, but unfortunately it has a much shorter range. The one that would make a significant impact on Crimea becoming untenable for Russian forces of course is 300 kilometers range.hat would have the effect on Russian Navy facilities, Russian Air Force facilities and Russian logistics in Crimea. There are a lot of different weapons that would make Crimea untenable for Russian forces. We have to commit to that. The [German] Taurus would be an excellent addition that Ukraine could use to make Crimea untenable, and it would also weaken [Russian] defenses that have been so difficult for Ukrainian land forces to penetrate.”.