20.10.2026 23:20
US President Donald Trump claimed that Russia missed the opportunity to seize Kyiv in the first days of its invasion of Ukraine due to wrong military decisions. Criticizing the Russian army for heading into agricultural land instead of advancing along the concrete highway, Trump targeted the Russian command, stating that tanks got stuck in the mud after heavy rainfall.
US President Donald Trump made striking statements regarding the early period of the Russia-Ukraine War. Trump claimed that the Russian army could have captured Kyiv within a few hours at the start of the war, but that it got stuck in the mud due to "the mistake of a stupid general."
Answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office, Trump sharply criticized the military strategy the Russian army followed in the first days of the invasion of Ukraine. Targeting the Russian command, Trump argued that the strategic mistake made at the beginning of the operation changed the course of the war.
"THE WAR COULD HAVE ENDED IN ONE DAY"
Arguing that the Russian army could have captured Ukraine within hours if it had continued advancing along the highway, Trump said:
"Russia had a very stupid general. They were advancing along a concrete highway with a thousand tanks. If they had moved at the tanks' maximum speed, exactly 48 miles per hour (77 km/h), they would have reached Ukraine within 4 hours. There was nothing to stop them. The war would have ended in one day."
"A LEGENDARILY BAD DECISION WAS MADE"
Saying that he did not know who that commander was and that he doubted whether he was still alive, Trump described the Russian troops' leaving the highway and heading into agricultural land as a major mistake.
Criticizing the route the Russian army took to reach Kyiv, Trump said:
"But he decided to turn right. He wanted to advance toward the agricultural land and then turn left to go to Kyiv. Yet if they had stayed on the highway, on that concrete road in perfect condition, they would have arrived there within 3.5–4 hours and the entire war would have ended."
"THE TANKS GOT STUCK IN THE MUD, THEY WERE DESTROYED"
Arguing that the weather and terrain conditions in the region also put the Russian army in a difficult position, Trump said that after heavy rain the terrain turned into a swamp and the tanks became unable to advance.
Trump described what happened with these words:
"In the end they got stuck in the mud. The night before, the heaviest rain they had seen in the last 10 years had fallen, and the terrain was soaked. It was like a swamp. But he made a terrible decision; a legendarily bad decision... The tanks got stuck in the mud. They could neither move forward nor retreat. They were destroyed. That is what war is called; you never know what will happen."