Russia's military still has dangerous combat forces 'barely touched' by the Ukraine war, top US general in Europe warns

• Russia has suffered superior losses successful Ukraine, including much than 600,000 casualties, per US estimates.
• But a apical US wide warns Moscow still has vulnerable forces that haven't been affected by nan war.
• These see long-range aviation, strategical rocket forces, and undersea capabilities.

Russia has suffered important losses successful Ukraine, but its subject still has vulnerable combat forces disposable that person hardly been affected by nan conflict, nan apical US wide successful Europe warned this week.

"The Russian subject we spot operating successful Ukraine, and nan punches it's been taking, has to beryllium viewed successful nan discourse of their full subject structure," Gen. Christopher Cavoli, nan commandant of US European Command, said successful an question and reply pinch nan Atlantic Council.

Cavoli, besides nan NATO alliance's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said Russia still has forces that "have been hardly touched" by nan Ukraine war, including its long-range aviation, strategical rocket forces, protect units, and undersea assets. He said astir of Moscow's tactical aerial unit has not yet been committed to nan conflict.

"So while location person been significant, important losses successful nan crushed domain, successful nan remainder of nan subject building of Russia, location remains a immense magnitude of capacity — some accepted and atomic — and truthful it's basal to support that successful mind," Cavoli said during nan video interview pinch nan deliberation tank, which was released connected Tuesday.

Throughout nan war, Russia has made efforts to flaunt its subject capabilities beyond Ukraine, for illustration carrying retired submarine exercises successful nan Baltic Sea and accrued undersea activity successful nan Atlantic, flying military craft pinch China adjacent Alaska, conducting atomic readiness drills, and attempting to trial caller long-range ballistic missiles.

However, Moscow's subject demonstrations overseas travel against nan backdrop of its setbacks successful Ukraine; what Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to beryllium a swift and decisive victory has go a bloody conflict inching person to nan three-year mark.

Western intelligence estimates that Russia has suffered good complete 600,000 casualties since nan commencement of nan warfare successful Ukraine and is averaging much than 1,200 losses each time — a inclination that is apt to continue. Meanwhile, Moscow is thought to person lost a monolithic magnitude of subject equipment, including thousands of tanks and armored vehicles.

Cavoli explained during nan Atlantic Council question and reply that while Russia's crushed forces person suffered terrible losses fighting successful Ukraine, Moscow has taken notable strides to build them backmost up.

"The subject unit — nan crushed unit — wrong Ukraine coming is importantly larger than nan crushed unit that was location successful nan opening of nan war," Cavoli said, "so nan Russian service has really grown during this period."

"Now, there's immoderate value problems, and immoderate of nan instrumentality whitethorn not beryllium nan newest, but that again is localized to nan crushed forces," he said. "Russia has a scheme to reconstitute that crushed unit and to deploy it, again, connected nan borders of NATO."

"It's a scheme they've made nationalist that they've talked about, and it's thing we person to return very seriously," he added.

Cavoli's remarks this week awesome his latest warnings of nan continued Russian threat. The American wide — for illustration different apical US officials — has said connected aggregate occasions complete nan past fewer months that Moscow is still dangerous and is making up for its wartime losses.