The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
31 May 2025
In this episode of The PDB Situation Report: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sounds the alarm as Russia amasses 50,000 troops near the northeastern border. Is a new offensive coming? Retired Lt. General Ben Hodges, former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, joins us to assess the threat and what it means for NATO. As the war between Israel and Hamas reaches the 600-day mark, the fate of dozens of Israeli hostages remains uncertain. Bill Roggio from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies shares the latest on Israel’s efforts in Gaza. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Welcome to the PDB Situation Report. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We begin tonight with a warning from President Zelensky. Ukraine says 50,000 Russian troops are now masked near the border, sparking fears, of course, of a new offensive. Former commanding general of U.S.
Army Europe, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, joins us with insight. Later in the show, this week marks 600 days since the war between Israel and Hamas began when Hamas kicked off this conflict with those brutal 7 October 2023 attacks. For the families of the hostages still held in Gaza, each one of these days has been a living nightmare.
We'll bring you an update on the latest with Bill Roggio of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. But first, our Situation Report Spotlight. Tonight, Ukraine's President Zelensky is sounding the alarm. According to the latest intelligence from Kyiv, more than 50,000 Russian troops are now massed near Ukraine's northeastern border. Now, this isn't just a show of force.
It may be the prelude, of course, to a new Russian offensive, likely targeting the Sumy region. At the same time, Western allies have reportedly lifted range restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles, meaning that Kyiv can now strike deeper into Russian territory. Joining us to break it all down is retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe.
Sir, thank you very much for joining us here on the Situation Report.
Well, thanks for the privilege, Mike.
The reports that Putin is massing troops on the border of Ukraine and the Sumy region in particular, what do you make of that?
Well, I have to say I'm skeptical. There may be a lot of troops there, and certainly the Russians would like to try and get momentum somehow. But as General Cavoli said a month ago in his testimony to the House and Senate Arts Services Committee, Russia is losing momentum. On the battlefield, they have demonstrated they do not have the ability to knock Ukraine out of the war.
They can only kill innocent people with their attacks at nighttime on cities, but they don't have the land power. And certainly they're not integrated with air power supporting land operations the way we would. So while they may have a bunch of troops, I don't think they have a lot of equipment. So I'm skeptical that this is going to be some breakthrough kind of point in the war.
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