Estonia's deputy defense chief: Russians failed in lightning war

TALLINN - Maj. Gen. Veiko-Vello Palm, deputy commander of the Estonian defense forces, says that what is happening in Ukraine is definitely no longer a lightning war, as the Russian army simply could not carry it out as desired. 

"There are multiple reasons why the lightning war failed. Firstly, they did not have enough precision munitions, which is a prerequisite for a lightning war. Here we see the impact of the Western sanctions, their arsenals were very empty indeed and technologically they are inferior to the West," Palm told reporters on Friday. 

According to the deputy commander of the Estonian defense forces, the leaders of the Russian armed forces were not quite up to the task of carrying out a lightning war.

"Their command posts and units are not good enough in quality and morale," Palm said, adding that it is now apparent that the armed forces of the Russian Federation are regrouping.

"In our estimation, they have at least one move in reserve, one proper military offensive can be mounted with the forces that are not yet in the battle at the moment," Palm said.

He noted that Russia has switched to massive use of fire, which results in the destruction of more and more of Ukraine and the killing of civilians.

"The Russian armed forces are suffering heavy losses, but it is also clear that the number of civilian casualties will increase in the coming days as the fighting continues," Palm said. 

According to Palm, it cannot be said that the Russian armed forces necessarily want to kill civilians, but this is what goes with their reckless actions and inaccurate weapons.