According to the US Department of Defense, the Russian military is trying to rebuild its units with new materials and soldiers after losses in northern Ukraine. There are also reports that the units now being deployed in eastern Ukraine will be bolstered by the deployment of “tens of thousands of reservists,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said yesterday.
Some of the Russian units that recently withdrew from Belarus were “almost completely destroyed,” Kirby said. So it’s unclear whether they could be reinstated or would have to be merged with other associations that lost less “personnel, equipment, vehicles,” he said. It remains unclear how quickly the Russians can strengthen their troops again for operations in eastern Ukraine, Kirby said.
However, he warned that the Russians, despite their losses, still had most of their regional strength available for war. Furthermore, the Russian military will now likely focus on the much smaller geographically eastern Donbas area.
However, the Ukrainians would fight the Russian aggressors with the same determination. “We want the Ukrainians to win this war,” he said. The US would continue to support Ukraine with weapons and other means.