Former NSA Adviser H.R. McMaster Assesses Russian Army on Brink of ‘Moral Collapse’ in Ukraine: They’re at a ‘Breaking Point’

Former Trump National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster determined that the situation grows increasingly desperate for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and that the Russian army might be on the verge of “collapse.”

McMaster joined CBS’ Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation to discuss the news that Russian forces withdrew from the Ukrainian city of Lyman after months of occupation. The Associated Press described the development as a significant setback for Russia, and McMaster predicted this “tremendous victory” for Ukraine’s counteroffensive will be followed by others.

“It’s a victory that I think that they could turn into a cascading series of defeats of Russian forces,” McMaster explained. “This is the encirclement of Lyman and the Russian forces pulling back, but also, in the last two days, the Ukrainians also simultaneously defeated a Russian counterattack and also made progress further in the south near the strategically important city of Kherson.”

Given these setbacks for the Russians, Moscow’s attempts to conscript people into their armed forces, and the discontent within the ranks, McMaster suggested that the Russian army could wind up falling apart.

I think, Margaret, what we might be at here is really at the precipice of — of really the collapse of the Russian army in Ukraine, a moral collapse. I think they must really be at a breaking point. If you look at just the numbers of casualties, the vast area that they’re trying to defend, and now, of course, Russia is trying to mobilize conscripts and send them to the front untrained. And I think it’s very important to also understand that these forces that are in full retreat now out of Lyman were really the first round of mobilization. Remember when Putin was trying to recruit more and more people with paying about three times the average wages to get so-called volunteers to go forward. Those forces were hastily trained, thrown into that front, and these are the forces that are collapsing just right right now.

Brennan followed up by asking McMaster how he thinks the U.S. and NATO should respond if Vladimir Putin follows through on his threat to use nuclear weapons. McMaster answered that the threat belies the “extreme pressure” Putin is under as he runs out of options in the middle of Russia’s dire situation.

“I don’t think a nuclear weapon is usable there,” McMaster added. “I think that we ought to take it seriously. We have to, but we ought to not allow this to cow us in terms of the support for the Ukrainians.”

Watch above via CBS.