Russia's military strength remains a threat despite major losses in Ukraine, top US general warns
Russia has suffered significant losses in Ukraine, but still has "dangerous combat forces" that are largely unscathed by the war, said NATO's top commander in Europe, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli in an interview with the Atlantic Council, reports Business Insider.
According to Cavoli, Russia still has forces that have been "barely touched" by the war, including long-range aviation, strategic missile forces, defense units, and submarine capabilities. Besides, the majority of Russia's tactical aviation has not yet been involved in the conflict.
"So, despite significant losses in the ground domain, there remains a huge potential – both conventional and nuclear – in the rest of Russia's military structure, and this must be taken into account," Cavoli said.
He emphasized that Russian ground forces have suffered serious losses during the fighting in Ukraine, but Moscow has taken notable steps to restore them.
"The military power – the ground power – inside Ukraine today is significantly larger than the ground power that was there at the beginning of the war. So, the Russian army has actually grown during this period," Cavoli said.
He acknowledged that there are now certain quality issues, and some equipment may not be the most modern, but Russia has a plan to restore these ground forces and deploy them along NATO borders, which the Alliance must take very seriously.
In May, Cavoli stated that Russia would remain a threat to NATO even after the war ends. According to him, the West will have a "very big Russia problem for many years to come," as Moscow is working to increase the size of its army and recover its losses.
In an October interview with Spiegel, Cavoli said that regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, the Russian army will be stronger after the conflict than it is today.
