Pentagon: Russian Mobilization May Be Reinforcing Failure in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin's mobilization of 300,000 reservists may just be a reinforcing failure, the Pentagon said on Thursday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The Russian President's action follows a Ukrainian counteroffensive that pushed the Kremlin forces from Kharkiv and liberated more than 3,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.

Putin's mobilization "would primarily be reservists or members of the Russian military that had retired... It's our assessment that it would take time for Russia to train, prepare and equip these forces," Pentagon's Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.

According to Ryder, the mobilization "may address a manpower issue" for Russia... What's not clear is whether or not it could significantly address the command and control, the logistics, the entertainment and importantly, the morale issues that we've seen Russian forces in Ukraine experience."

If Russia cannot command, sustain and equip the roughly 100,000 troops they have in Ukraine, adding 300,000 more troops to the mix is not going to make the situation better. "If you are already having significant challenges and haven't addressed some of those systemic strategic issues that make any large military force capable, there's nothing to indicate that it's going to get any easier by adding more variables to the equation," Ryder said.

The U.S. and its partners are going to continue a very open and rigorous dialogue with Ukrainian counterparts to understand the country's needs. "I don't see those conversations as being impacted by the situation ," the general said. "I think it's important here to provide a little bit of context. If we go back in time a little bit, Russia invaded Ukraine and attempted to annex all of Ukraine.

Putin making the announcement on mobilization, scheduling sham referenda in captured areas of the Donbas or threats about attacking territory, "it doesn't change the operational facts on the ground, which are that the Ukrainians will continue to fight for their country," Ryder said.

"The Russian military is dealing with some significant challenges on the ground and the international community will stand behind Ukraine as they fight to defend their country from an invasion."

The Pentagon's assessment came at the time when the UN Security Council meeting was taking place on Thursday where Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats allied with Ukraine squared off with Russia's Sergey Lavrov, confronting Moscow on alleged war crimes and pledging to prosecute those responsible.

"If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends", Blinken said, adding "wherever the Russian tide recedes, we discover the horror that’s left in its wake".

"‘We cannot, we will not allow President Putin to get away with it,”  he added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.