Russia sending ‘tens of thousands’ of ‘ill-trained’ troops amid Ukraine losses
Mike Brest
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Russia is sending tens of thousands of ill-trained and ill-equipped soldiers to the front lines of the war in the eastern part of Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. military official.
The Russians have sustained roughly “180,000 dead or wounded soldiers” during their 11-month-long war in Ukraine, a senior European general said recently, though they have been able to replenish their ranks in eastern Ukraine through the vast number of reserve forces, but their training is suspect at best.
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“What we’ve seen is Russia sending in replacements for units that have been particularly in the Bakhmut area that have had heavy casualties, but really, across the line, attempting to send in some of those mobilized forces to help strengthen some of their defensive positions,” the U.S. military official explained. “A key aspect is, despite these increased numbers in terms of replacements, reinforcements, not a significant enhancement in terms of the training of those forces. So again, ill-equipped, ill-trained, rushed to the battlefield.”
That official also described the number of replacement forces to be in the ballpark of tens of thousands. The troops are “not coming in necessarily as organized units, but filling in the gaps where replacements and reinforcements are needed,” the official continued.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced last week that Russia will expand the size of its military to roughly 1.5 million between now and 2026, though it’s not entirely clear the current manpower total.
Movements on the front lines of the war “remain largely static” for the most part, though the situation near Bakhmut “remains fluid with a lot of back and forth,” the official added.
Ukrainian leaders are pressing their Western allies for more security aid, specifically tanks, ahead of a possible renewed Russian offensive in the coming weeks.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the current moment as “a window of opportunity” between now and “whenever they commence their operation, their counteroffensive” to “pull together the right capabilities” for Ukraine. Despite Austin’s plea, the German government is not prepared to provide Ukraine with its Leopard tanks, though it now appears like it won’t block other European countries that have these tanks from providing those to Ukraine.
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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said over the weekend that it “would not stand in the way” of other European allies from providing Ukraine with their own German-made Leopard 2 tanks as they continue to deliberate on that same question, while Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki indicated his country would provide Ukraine with German tanks if a “small coalition of countries,” did too.
The U.S. didn’t provide Ukraine with tanks in its latest military package, though it did include other armored vehicles, but officials said providing tanks would not be ideal due to the maintenance and training required for their use.