Pentagon doubts Putin’s goal of adding 130,000 troops is achievable

A senior U.S. defense official expressed doubts about the viability of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent order to increase the military size. According to a report on August 29th, Putin planned to expand a minimum of 130,000 army starting next year.

On Monday, the senior defense official said the Pentagon’s view on this matter is that “this effort is unlikely to succeed, as Russia has historically not met personnel end strength targets.” The Russian military “may have already been 150,000 personnel short of their million personnel goal” before the Russia-Ukraine war in February. The Russian military now consists of 250,000 conscripts and the remaining are professional armies.

The official also said that Russian military leaders have worked on expanding soldier recruitment. It has removed the age caps for new recruitments. The recruitment also includes prisoners. These two groups of people “have been observed as older, unfit, and ill trained.”
Based on a report, a spokesman from the Ukrainian military stated on Monday that the country’s forces have started a counteroffensive in the strategic city of Kherson to free the city.

On the same Monday, The military “initiated offensive activities in multiple directions,” Operational Command South spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk told Ukrainian media.