The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that the Russian military will “increasingly rely on echelons of reserve forces” such as the Human Mobilization Resource or the Combat Army Reserve. It said that despite the army having suffered heavy casualties, Putin “remains reluctant to order a general mobilization”. Earlier this week, it was announced that Putin has taken a retired Soviet-era Russian general out of retirement to support his ailing invasion of Ukraine.
General Pavel is reportedly an obese and obese veteran of Russia’s disastrous war in Afghanistan.
Speaking to the Daily Star about his appointment, a senior intelligence source said: “Putin is now in the process of scrapping the barrel.
“Most of his best and battle-hardened senior commanders have been killed or wounded fighting in Ukraine, so he resorts to sending second-rate officers to the front, who don’t last long.
He is now taking generals out of retirement and one of them is General Pavel.
“Putin is like a mafia boss who no one can refuse to obey.
“When a retired general gets a message from Putin that Mother Russia needs you to fight in Ukraine, there’s not much you can do.
“Thanks to the sanctions, there is no escaping Russia.”
In an update on the war, the British Ministry of Defense said: “In the coming weeks, the Russian campaign will most likely rely increasingly on echelons of reserve forces.
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“Despite an ongoing shortage of deployable reservists for Ukraine, the Russian leadership is likely to remain reluctant to order a general mobilization.”
An unnamed senior U.S. defense official reiterated this, telling the Institute for the Study of War that the Russian armed forces are likely running out of senior military leaders and relying more on retired officers and reserves to replace officer casualties.
This is because Putin suffered heavy losses in the war against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
So far, an estimated 10 Russian generals have been killed in combat.
About 30 senior officers were lost.
Meanwhile, as many as 30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict and up to 100,000 injured.
Russia has reportedly lost more than 4,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 216 combat aircraft, 183 attack helicopters and 620 drones.