Vladimir Putin’s army is facing a crushing defeat which will humiliate him and the Kremlin and the war could be over by Christmas.

A senior British government source has said if Ukraine continues with their counteroffensive the Russian Army will collapse by the end of this year.

Ben Hodges, a former US military chief in charge of American forces in Europe also said he believes that it could be over by the end of the year.

Hodges told The Times, “Based on all the things we are seeing it has the feeling of a collapse, at least in the Donbas area, and I do believe the Russians will be pushed beyond the February 23 line by the end of the year.”

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He added that Putin’s army was once described as the “second best in the world” which has now “been defeated” been and has been a total humiliation for the Russian leader and the Kremlin.

If Ukrainian troops can retake Kherson then the Black Sea port city will open the door for Crimea and Hodges added, “Once they do, the people in Crimea are trapped.”

Mattia Nelles, an analyst focused on Ukraine, warned that Rusia still has a lot of troops and weapons in Kherson.

He said, “Maybe Ukraine can attrite these forces by the end of the year and [make] them withdraw east of the Dnipro but that is not enough to make the front in the south collapse.”

He added, “If that is happening and successful we could see a full collapse of the southern front. But we are far away from that.”