- The Russian army has grown despite losses suffered during the invasion of Ukraine, a US general has said.
- U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli said the Russian military “is actually now bigger, by 15 percent.”
- “Russia is poised to command the largest army on the continent,” Cavoli said.
Russia’s armed forces have grown rather than shrunk during the war in Ukraine, a top U.S. general said Wednesday.
“The military is now larger — by 15 percent — than it was when it invaded Ukraine,” said U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, supreme allied commander in Europe. NATO, during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee.
“Over the past year, Russia has increased its frontline troops from 360,000 to 470,000 troops,” Cavoli continued, adding that the boosted numbers came because Russia had increased the age of conscription from 27 to 30 years old.
According to Cavoli, this increase means that Russia has been able to expand “the pool of available military conscripts by 2 million for the coming years.”
“In short, Russia is poised to command the largest military on the continent,” Cavoli said in his opening statement to Congress.
“Whatever the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Russia will be bigger, deadlier and angrier with the West than when it invaded,” he added.
Representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside normal business hours.
Cavoli is not the first U.S. official to have highlighted the threat posed by Russia’s resurgence.
Last week, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Russia had “almost completely” restored its military after suffering heavy losses in Ukraine.
“Its new capabilities pose a long-term challenge to stability in Europe and threaten NATO allies,” Campbell told participants in a dialogue hosted by the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank. , April 3.
Cavoli and Campbell’s warnings about a reinvigorated Russian military come amid declining U.S. support for the war in Ukraine. The Republican Party has repeatedly blocked the Biden administration’s attempts to send aid to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, that his country “will lose the war” without additional support from the United States.
“If we do not continue to support Ukraine, Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defense interceptors in a relatively short time,” Cavoli said Wednesday.
“In my experience of over 37 years in the U.S. military, if one side can shoot and the other cannot return fire, the side that cannot return fire loses,” he continued.
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