According to US General Christopher Cavoli, Moscow is producing weapons at an impressive rate.
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia should easily meet its goal of having 1.5 million active troops, according to NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Christopher Cavoli.
Cavoli, a four-star US Army general, discussed Moscow’s ability to bolster its military during a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday.
”I believe they’ll be able to build the personnel as quickly as they want to,” Cavoli said, pointing to the spring conscription campaign launched on Tuesday, which aims to recruit 160,000 individuals for military training. Unlike Kiev, Moscow relies on volunteers and does not send conscripts to the front lines.
”With those numbers, they will be able to reach their desired force size relatively quickly,” Cavoli stated, adding that it may take Moscow “a couple of years” to reach the 1.5 million target.
The general also emphasized a significant increase in Russia’s military production capacity during the Ukraine conflict.
”They have greatly increased their ability to produce certain items, such as artillery shells and cruise missiles, and they are producing others, like one-way attack drones, in large quantities, which they weren’t producing at all before the war,” he said.
Cavoli noted that Russia’s reserves of heavy armored vehicles, including tanks, have been significantly reduced due to the conflict.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a strong supporter of Kiev, requested the analysis and interpreted Cavoli’s observations as indicating a growing threat from Russia to Ukraine and NATO members in Europe.
“I would add, senator, that this extends beyond just the ground domain,” Cavoli responded, referring to Russian air patrols and the deployment of naval and road-mobile nuclear forces.
Moscow insists that it has no aggressive intentions towards NATO and that its military serves as a deterrent against hostile forces, including the US-led bloc. The Pentagon regularly conducts similar maneuvers to those Cavoli described.
Throughout the Ukraine conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered several increases in army size. His directive from last September aims to increase the number of armed forces personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million active service members. The Kremlin stated that “threats existing near our borders” necessitated the decision.
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