US: Russia is facing a "serious manpower shortage" in its six-month-old conflict with Ukraine and more desperate in its quest to send new troops to the front lines, according to a recent US intelligence finding released on Wednesday. 

According to a US official who spoke on the record under condition of anonymity to discuss the downgraded intelligence finding, Russia is trying to address the troop shortage by forcing soldiers wounded earlier in the conflict to return to the war. is looking for. Private security firms, and even recruits from prisons.

The official further said that it has been determined by the intelligence community that Russia's Defense Ministry is expected to take an action soon that is recruiting criminals to commit "in exchange for pardon and financial compensation".

As Russian President Vladimir Putin last week ordered the military to increase the number of troops from 137,000 to a total of 1.15 million, the US government highlighted its findings.

Putin's order, which took effect January 1, did not specify how the military would increase its numbers, including whether it would use more troops, more volunteers, or a combination of both.

However, some Russian military analysts predicted that it would rely heavily on volunteers, reflecting the Kremlin's cautious stance in light of its concerns about the potential negative effects of attempting to increase the draft.

With the help of the presidential decree, the Russian army will have 1,150,628 more soldiers, bringing the total to 2,039,758. The army had 1,902,758 and 1,013,628 members at the beginning of 2018, respectively.

Colin Kahl, under secretary of policy at the US Department of Defense, told reporters earlier in August that Washington believed Moscow had suffered significant damage in the first few weeks of the conflict.

Kahl said the Russians expected 70-80,000 casualties in less than the past six months, adding that there is a lot of fog in the war.

While the total number of killed in action and wounded in action may be slightly lower or slightly higher, I believe this to be roughly accurate.
During the Peace War, the US often downgraded and released intelligence findings to draw attention to Russian plans for misinformation campaigns or to highlight the challenges Moscow faced in waging war against Ukraine, whose The small army has fought a strong battle with a militarily superior Russian army.

Russia has faced technical issues with Iranian-made drones purchased from Tehran this month for use in its conflict with Ukraine, according to research released by the Biden administration earlier this week.

This month, Russia acquired Mohajer-6 and Shaheed-series unmanned aerial vehicles over several days, reportedly as part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of Iranian UAVs for use in Ukraine, according to the Biden administration. .

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed on Wednesday that Russia has faced "certain difficulties" and "the limits of some of their capabilities" since receiving the Iranian drones.

US intelligence reports that Russia is purchasing millions of rockets and shells from North Korea

22 years in prison for Russian journalist Ivan Safronov

China requests constructive de-escalation talks rather than a cap on the price of Russian oil.