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US generals say Russia’s ground forces are larger than they were at the start of the war in Ukraine. Photos/Illustrations
WASHINGTON – A senior military commander United States of America (US) in Europe told lawmakers that Russia has more weapons left in its arsenal despite suffering thousands of losses in the war in Ukraine.
“The Russian army has suffered somewhat from this conflict, although more today than at the start of the conflict,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of US European Command, told the US House Armed Services Committee.
“The (Russian) Air Force lost very little, they lost 80 aircraft. They have another 1,000 fighters and fighter-bombers,” he added.
“The (Russian) Navy has lost one ship,” he continued as quoted by CNN, Thursday (27/4/2023).
Secret military documents allegedly leaked by a junior National Guard aviator over the course of months provide a snapshot of where Russian ground forces are involved in the war. One document, dated February and March, said that 527 of Russia’s 544 available battalions had committed to fight against Ukraine; 474 of them are already in the country, intelligence said.
One document also estimates that between 35,000 and 43,000 Russian troops died in action during the conflict.
Those losses have been especially heavy recently in the fight around Bakhmut. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russia is concentrating all its forces in Bakhmut, and in fact is not carrying out such vigorous combat operations anywhere in its group’s operational area of responsibility.
In March, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers that Russian troops were “slaughtered” in their fight for Bakhmut.
“For about the last 20, 21 days, the Russians haven’t made any progress in and around Bakhmut. So it’s an orgy of killing for the Russians,” Milley said.
