This latest unveiling of intelligence about Russia’s struggles comes as US President Joe Biden is pressing the Republican-controlled House to go along with providing more funding for Ukraine as Kyiv tries to repel Russia in a war that has no end in sight.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday Moscow has suffered “significant losses” in the new offensive in Ukraine.
Kirby added that Russia’s army had lost at least 125 armoured vehicles around the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region and more than a battalion’s worth of equipment.
“It is unsurprising that Russian forces are suffering from poor morale,” he said in a press briefing at the White House.
Moscow has recently stepped up its attacks on the battlefield in a bid to move to frontline forward before winter.
Kirby also said that Russia is executing its own soldiers and has threatened entire units with death if they retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire.
It’s reprehensible to think that you would execute your own soldiers because they didn’t want to follow orders… it’s barbaric,” Kirby told reporters. “But I think it’s a symptom of how poorly Russia’s military leaders know they’re doing and how bad they have handled this from a military perspective.
Kirby also renewed a plea for Congress to pass a nearly €100 billion supplemental funding request that US President Joe Biden unveiled last week. The funding request includes more than €57 billion for Ukraine.
“President Putin is not giving up on his aspirations to take all of Ukraine and as long as Russia continues its brutal assault we have to continue to support the Ukrainian people and their self-defence because his intentions are clear,” Kirby said.
Putin ”basically said that if Western weapons to Ukraine stopped, Ukraine would have a week to live. So to ensure that we can continue to do that it’s critical that Congress step up and pass the supplemental requests that the president put forward last week.”
Kirby also warned that more Russian attacks are to come and that Putin’s troops still maintain some offensive capability and may be able to achieve some tactical gains in the coming months.
On Thursday lawmakers in Russia also adopted their draft budget for 2024-2026 in which the State Duma decided to increase military spending by 68 per cent.
According to the government’s proposal, military expenses in 2024 will exceed all social expenses for the first time in Russian history, by more than 25 per cent.
To take effect, the draft law must now be adopted in the second and the third reading by the Duma, before passing to the Russian parliament’s upper house, the Federation Council, and then must be signed by President Vladimir Putin.