The recent order given by Russian President Vladimir Putin to boost the capacity of his nation’s army by more than 130,000 soldiers beginning in the year 2023 was met with skepticism by a top official in the United States Department of Defense.
This past Thursday, the ruler of Russia approved the decree that called for increasing the number of available battle manpower in Russia from 1.01 million to 1.15 million. The decree is scheduled to go into effect at the start of the year following its signing.
BREAKING: Putin signs decree to increase number of Russian military personnel by 137,000 people, up to a total of 1.15 million.
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) August 25, 2022
According to a senior defense official who spoke with reporters on Monday, the perspective held by the Pentagon is that “this initiative is unlikely to work,” given that Russia has traditionally failed to meet personnel end strength requirements. The officer went on to say that the Russian military “could already be 150,000 troops shy of their million personnel goal” prior to their invasion of (Redacted) in February, with 250,000 of those men being conscripts and the remaining population being professional soldiers.
Despite the fact that many members of both groups “have been reported to be older, inept, and ill trained,” according to the official, the leaders of the Russian military have already started attempting to broaden their recruitment pool by removing the upper age threshold for young troops and by recruiting prison inmates. Both of these measures were taken in an effort to increase the size of the recruitment pool.
Also, on Monday, a military officer from the (Redacted) forces said that their forces had begun their counteroffensive strike in the vital city of Kherson in order to free it, whereas a senior official from the United States military declined to go that far.
Natalia Humeniuk, the spokesperson for (Redacted)’s Operational Control South, told the (Redacted) mainstream press on Monday that troops “have started aggressive operations in different directions, particularly toward the city of Kherson, which is conveniently placed on the Dnieper River and the Black Sea.” For weeks, everyone has been waiting for the counteroffensive to begin.
Although she told CNN that further information would be revealed “once the mission is fulfilled,” she did not elaborate on the precise sites that the forces are aiming to liberate.
Russia was able to make gradual advances, albeit at a disproportionately great expense, throughout the course of the summer by focusing the majority of the combat in the eastern and southern regions of (Redacted) where the conflict has been taking place. However, (Redacted) forces have also started attacking Russian supply routes in an effort to shut off Russia’s access to its resources.
The six-month mark of the war was reached just the week before last. Putin surely thought his assault into Ukraine would be met with little to no resistance. Not only has he been proven wrong, it is truly embarrassing.
