A senior US military commander in Europe told lawmakers Wednesday that Russia has plenty more firepower, has lost thousands of troops, but present troop levels are MORE than at the start of the Ukraine operation. Stunningly, the General says Russia has seen "no real attrition."
“The Russian ground force has been degenerated somewhat by this conflict, although it is bigger today than it was at the beginning of the conflict,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the commander of US European Command (EURCOM), told the House Armed Services Committee.
“The Air Force has lost very little, they’ve lost 80 planes. They have another 1,000 fighters and fighter bombers,” he said. “The Navy has lost one ship.”
Last month, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before Congress and said that Russian troops are “getting slaughtered” in their fight for Bakhmut.
“For about the last 20, 21 days, the Russians did not make any progress whatsoever in and around Bakhmut. So it’s a slaughter fest for the Russians,” Milley said. “They’re getting hammered in the vicinity of Bakhmut and the Ukrainians have fought very, very well.”
The losses appear to be only a fraction of Russia’s total military force. Cavoli said that “much of the Russian military has not been affected negatively” by its invasion of Ukraine.
Asked about Russia’s submarine patrols in the Atlantic, Milley told Congress “The Russians are more active than we’ve seen them in years, and their patrols into the Atlantic, and throughout the Atlantic, are at a high level, most of the time at a higher level than we’ve seen in years,” he said. “And this is, as you pointed out, despite all of the efforts that they’re undertaking inside Ukraine.”
