Even optimists stop believing in complete liberation of Mosul from IS in 2017, said the representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, reports RIA Novosti.

According to him, the statements about the coalition victory in Mosul have been long tuned to into significant losses among Iraqi forces and a growing humanitarian catastrophe.

"And this year even the biggest optimists cease to believe about the possibility of a complete liberation of Mosul from ISIS,” said Konashenkov.