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General Tod Wolters, head of US European Command, said Tuesday that Russia has dedicated the vast majority of its military personnel to the invasion of Ukraine.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Angus King, D-Maine, pointed out the large number of Russian reserves that had championed the cause and asked Wolters which part of the Russian military is now involved in the invasion may be.
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“What proportion of their total armed forces, in terms of people, has been allocated to Ukraine at this point, and what level of reserves do they have to fall back on?” asked King.
“In a different environment I can give you an exact number, but from the Russian point of view they are currently in the 70 to 75 percent category,” estimates Wolters.
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King noted that this is “a very substantial part of their overall force” in Ukraine. In light of this, King questioned whether Ukraine was capable of successfully stopping or pushing back the Russians. Wolters said he believes Ukraine “can manage to stop the Russians” but refrained from further optimism about Ukraine’s chances.
Still, Wolters noted that Ukraine’s armed forces are “showing a very, very positive learning curve,” leading him to be “optimistic” about their ability to force “additional delays” by Russia.
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At the beginning of the hearing, it was mentioned that American forces had increased their numbers in Europe from about 60,000 to 100,000 due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and Wolters said he expected the US to need another increase when it was over.
“I think what we need to do from the perspective of the US forces is look at what is happening in Europe after the Ukraine-Russia scenario is completed and look at the European contributions and … based on the breadth and depth of the European ones Contributions to be prepared to match US contributions,” Wolters said in response to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “And my suspicion is that we’re going to need more.”