Pentagon Says, Putin's Military Unlikely To Succeed At Recruitment Target

The Pentagon doesn't think Vladimir Putin's recent effort to increase the size of his military by more than 130,000 troops will succeed, a senior U.S. Defense official told reporters on Monday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The Kremlin is 'desperately trying' to fill its ranks depleted by its poor showing in its unprovoked war on Ukraine, the Pentagon official said. Russia is seeking to increase the size of its military by 137,000 to 1.15 million. Last week,  Putin ordered the increase to be in place effective in January 2023. 

However, Russia has lost between 60,000 and 80,000 troops in its misguided war on Ukraine, according to U.S. assessment.

"This effort is unlikely to succeed, as Russia has historically not met personnel and strength targets," the official said. "In fact, if you look at the Russian armed forces, prior to the invasion, they may have already been 150,000 personnel short of their million personnel goal."

Both Russia and Ukraine have struggled to make significant headway in a war that has come to a near stalemate as it enters its seventh month.

Ukraine has also kept guarded its information on how many of its troops have been killed in battle but last week revealed that nearly 9,000 military personnel have died in the war. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said on Monday that they have launched an offensive in and around Kherson to retake the strategic city in the south, and a senior U.S. military official, also speaking on background, confirmed there has been an increase in kinetic activity in and around the city.

The official did not want to characterize the actions there as a counter offensive just yet, noting that Ukrainian forces have been moving into the region for some time.

The White House in its turn said Monday afternoon that regardless of the size, scale and scope of the latest counteroffensive, the Ukrainians "have already had an impact on Russian military capabilities."

"Because the Russians have had to pull resources from the east simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might be going more on the offense in the south,"

John Kirby, the communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said.  "And so they've had to deplete certain units ...in certain areas in the East in the Donbass, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counter offensive."

Kirby also said that Russia "continues to have manpower problems" in Ukraine, and is trying to expand its recruitment of fighters inside Russia as well as "entice" some of their conscripts and contract soldiers to serve beyond their time frames. 

For Pentagon officials, morale is an aspect of combat and news reports on Russian morale in the south indicate that it was already poor when the unprovoked war started. "Now imagine you're a Russian soldier ... a couple of months into it, and you've been getting hit pretty hard by artillery and HIMARS."

Add other capabilities, including Ukrainian air attacks which have become "more and more efficient and effective," the Pentagon official said.

This has to have an effect on morale and Ukrainian military officials have seen that "and are working to take advantage of it," the official added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.