Tucker Carlson guest claims Ukraine near defeat – despite stunning successes against Russian invaders

Country’s armed forces have pushed Russian troops out of an area in the northeast of the country around Kharkiv

A Tucker Carlson guest claimed that Ukraine was nearing defeat, despite the country staging a massive counteroffensive that has liberated large swathes of the country from Russian control.

Carlson’s top expert on the war, retired Colonel Douglas MacGregor, told viewers of the right-wing Fox News show that “this war may be over soon.:”

“Right now things are going very, very badly,” for Ukraine he said on Friday night’s show, calling them “desperate.”

And Col MacGregor, a former adviser to the Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration, even added that “They’re losing once again just south of Kharkiv.”

Reports from Ukraine state that the country’s armed forces have pushed Russian forces out of an area in the northeast of the country around Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian push started at the end of last week and picked up speed over the weekend, with Russia reportedly abandoning military vehicles and equipment in their haste to retreat.

Ukraine’s defence ministry posted a video of such vehicles on Twitter on Sunday.

“Russia is trying to maintain its status as the largest supplier of military equipment for the Ukrainian army, and even to improve its status, knowing that lend-lease will soon come into effect. #UAarmy loves its trophy ammo,” the tweet read.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Carlson has repeatedly been accused of taking pro-Vladimir Putin and Moscow positions on his show.

In March, the Kremlin told Russian state media that it should feature Carlson’s commentary on the war, according to Mother Jones.

Carlson himself has denied being pro-Russia, telling a conference in July that he doesn’t “really care one way or the other” what Putin does in Ukraine.

“I’m not a Putin defender, despite what you might have heard,” Carlson told the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa.

“I don’t really care one way or the other because he’s not my president, he doesn’t preside over my country.”

And he added: “What he does in Ukraine, while I think historically significant, certainly significant to Ukrainians, is not more significant to me than what gas costs. In fact, it’s not even in the same universe.”