Russian troops have withdrawn from Kyiv, but Moscow has launched a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine with the aim of securing control over Ukraine’s Donbas region. Russia increased air and missile strikes against several targets across Ukraine in the run-up to the renewed offensive – particularly around the line of contact in the east and southeast. Intense fighting is likely to continue throughout this region. Heavy fighting also continues in the strategic port city of Mariupol, and the city will likely fall in the coming days.
Against this backdrop, President Zelenskyy continues to plead for more military aid. Join us for a virtual discussion about the ongoing war in Ukraine and the western response on Thursday, April 28, at 11:00 am ET with Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis and former Commanding General, United States Army Europe, and Dr. Claudia Major, Head of the International Security Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges holds the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis which he joined in 2018. From 2014 to 2017, General Hodges served as Commanding General, United States Army Europe before his retirement from the Army in early 2018. General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions including Tactics Instructor; Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander, NATO Allied Land Command (İzmir, Turkey).
After his first assignment as an Infantry Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including Command of the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” of the 101st Airborne Division in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).
Dr. Claudia Major is Head of the International Security Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. Her research, advisory work, publications, and media contributions focus on security and defense policy in Europe and in a transatlantic context (NATO, EU, Germany, UK, France). Recent publications deal with Germany’s security and defense policy, NATO’s strategic adaptation and future development, developments in EU defense, strategic autonomy, and Franco-German relations in defense. Previously she held positions at the Center for Security Studies at the ETH Zurich, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the EU Institute for Security Studies (Paris), the German Foreign Office, and Sciences Po Paris. She is a member of various boards, including the Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Prevention at the Federal Foreign Office. She holds a diploma from Sciences Po Paris and the Free University Berlin and a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, UK.
