The head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, who recently hinted that he is ready for negotiations, estimated the number of Russian troops in the combat zone in Ukraine at 600,000. This is almost half of the army’s full-time staff and is almost equal to the officially named number of contract employees in the army, Radio Svoboda reports.
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“The combat zone is large – almost 2 thousand kilometers, Putin told the propaganda media. — The mechanism is huge”.
On December 1, he issued a decree increasing the full-time number of military personnel in the Russian army by 130,000 to 1,320,000. From his words, it follows that about 45 percent of the full-time military is in the zone of Russian invasion. In reality, the percentage can be both higher and lower: the full staff of troops is almost never manned. Putin’s assessment is not subject to independent verification and may differ from reality.
In December, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with US intelligence, that Russia could lose 315,000 of the 360,000 troops participating in the 2022 invasion. In addition, military units of pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, which are now integrated into Russian military structures, participated in the invasion.
Previously, analysts noted that due to the decrease in support from the US, the Ukrainian army has to change its strategy in the war with the invader.
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