Washington Post: Russia begins to mobilize military reinforcements for Ukraine as casualties mount, Pentagon says
Russia has begun to mobilize military reinforcements to send into Ukraine as its combat losses continue to grow, the Pentagon said Friday, citing its latest intelligence assessments.
“We now have indications that they are drawing on forces from Georgia,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Biden administration.
“Russian troops that are based in Georgia. We don’t have an exact number.” Thousands of Russian troops are stationed at military outposts from Georgia to Syria to Tajikistan, many of them assigned to motorized rifle brigades that experts consider combat-capable and ready to deploy immediately.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This blog said before the invasion, and then during the first week of the invasion, that Russia was calling up military reservists. I speculated at the time that they were to act as the police force in the regions that get conquered in Ukraine.
The current Western media narrative is that it is to replace loses sustained in the war.
So who is right?
If the Russian military continues to advance in the east from Donbas, and the forces in the south continue their advance to the center, the Russian military will need these reinforcements to keep the peace in the regions that they occupy. I think we will know in a few weeks if this is the scenario that plays out.
There may be another reason why Russia is deploying reinforcements (if the Pentagon analysis is accurate). Russian forces are actually outnumbered in this conflict. Estimates range that there are 150,000 to 250,000 Russian forces in Ukraine. The Ukraine military has about 190,000 soldiers, 900,000 reservists that have all been called up, as well as every able body male between 18 and 60 who has been conscripted. One can say that the Russian military is outnumbered (at a minimum) 4 to one, so yes, calling up reinforcements would make sense. Especially if you want to maintain the momentum in the east to drive out the Ukraine military from Donbas and to occupy everything east from the Dnieper river.