Pentagon: There are signs that Russia is trying to attract more than 60,000 troops

The unnamed senior Pentagon official told US reporters on Friday that US assessments showed that Russia was seeking to recruit more than 60,000 troops through new registrations and to mobilize its reserve forces to strengthen forces in Ukraine.

The official warned that it remains to be seen how successful Russia will be in achieving this goal, how much training it will receive or where it will be deployed.

He also said that the United States has not seen the deployment of new fully trained and fully armed support forces to strengthen Russian battalions in Ukraine.

The US official also estimated that Russia now has 85% of the estimated capacity of the number of troops sent to Ukraine.

He declined to confirm the number of Russian troops killed in Ukraine, but said the United States believed the Russian military still failed to address its transportation and support problems in Ukraine.

On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in the Donbas region, criticizing the West’s indifference to Moscow’s security concerns.

Three days later, on Thursday, February 24, 1400, Putin launched a so-called “special operation” against Ukraine, shifting tense Moscow-Kiev relations to a military confrontation. Conflicts in Ukraine and reactions to Russia’s action continue.