The United States sees indications that Russia is seeking to recruit “more than 60,000 troops” among recruits and mobilized reservists to bolster its invasion forces, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The official warned that “it remains to be seen” how successful Russia will be in achieving this goal, how much training these forces will receive or where they will be sent.
The official also said the United States had not seen “fresh reinforcements, fully trained, fully armed” ready to bolster Russia’s exhausted battalion tactical groups.
As for their current capabilities, Russia is now “below 85% of its estimated available combat power” that Moscow gained before the invasion of Ukraine in February, a senior US defense official said at a briefing on Friday.
“From the estimated available combat power they had before the invasion they ordered against Ukraine for this purpose, from the total estimated combat power they have, we estimate that they are between 80 and 85% of what they had , “Said the official, who takes into account various factors such as the number of tanks, fighter jets, missile inventory and troops.
The official would not give a specific figure for the total number of Russian soldiers who have been killed so far in the operation in Ukraine.
“The unit tells us that they were below 85% of their estimated available combat power when they began this invasion,” the official said.
The United States also believes that the Russian military has not solved “its logistics and maintenance problems,” including problems that existed outside Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The official said these problems meant they were unlikely to be able to strengthen forces in eastern Ukraine “at high speed”.
“We do not believe that in general this will be a quick process for them, given the types of victims they have taken and the type of damage they have suffered for the readiness of their units,” the official said.
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