The commander noted that Moscow's troops have been 'more formidable' as they've 'concentrated' in the southeast of Ukraine, but said the 'challenges remain.' He went on to urge the U.S. Navy Commander James Stavridis told MSNBC on Thursday that Russia's battle plans in Ukraine are 'ridiculously bad.' Above, Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, near the Kremlin on June 22 in Moscow.

'That is true not only in the failing logistics efforts, but also they continue these manifest war crimes, their battle plans are ridiculously bad as a general proposition.' 'As it's gone on, the Russians have simply shown very little appetite or inclination to improve,' Stavridis said. Speaking to MSNBC on Thursday morning, Stavridis, who previously served as NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, gave an assessment of Russia's military performance in Ukraine. Although Putin's military has made some progress, analysts have assessed that it has been relatively minimal considering heavy losses.

In reality, Moscow's forces struggled to make significant gains and failed in the initial phase of the war.Īfter taking heavy losses and failing to conquer major cities, Russia focused its efforts on the southeast of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin officials reportedly believed that they would swiftly take control of most of Ukraine and topple the government in Kyiv, when they launched the international condemned invasion a little more than five months ago on February 24. Navy Admiral James Stavridis described Russia's battle plans in Ukraine as 'ridiculously bad,' knocking Moscow's continued failures in its ongoing invasion of the Eastern European nation.

Us battle fleet