U.S. officials deploy more troops to Europe as Russian advance stalls

The U.S. army ordered the deployment of 500 extra troops to Europe, pushing the full variety of American forces on the continent to about 100,000 because it seeks to discourage Russia from broadening its unprovoked warfare in Ukraine, Pentagon officers mentioned Monday.

The officers mentioned the personnel strikes come as Russia has dedicated practically all of its pre-assembled fight forces into the battle over the previous Soviet Republic, an onslaught that has resulted in an rising variety of civilian fatalities. In an indication that Russian forces might have extra assist in overcoming stiff Ukrainian resistance, U.S. officers mentioned it seems the Kremlin is in search of to recruit international fighters from Syria to assist in Ukraine.

“We do consider that the accounts of the Russians in search of Syrian fighters to enhance their forces in Ukraine, we consider there’s fact to that,” mentioned Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, including that the Pentagon doesn’t have any assessments on who these fighters can be, what number of there can be, if there are any inside Ukraine now, what they’re getting paid or every other particulars.

The Wall Avenue Journal first reported Sunday that Russia is recruiting fighters from Syria to assist in its invasion of Ukraine. A media outlet in Syria, Deir Ezzor 24, reported final week that Russia was providing $200 to $300 for Syrian fighters keen to go to Ukraine for six months to “function as guards.”

Russia could also be in search of to bolster its forces in Ukraine as a result of its advance has stalled, mentioned a Pentagon official, talking on situation of anonymity. “They only haven’t made any vital progress on the bottom” in the direction of main cities that Russian forces have been in search of to seize, the official mentioned.

“The Ukrainians are placing up a really stiff resistance,” the official added, “and [the Russian troops] simply haven’t made a lot progress” in current days. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on Feb. 24 after Ukraine and the North American Transatlantic Alliance international locations rebuffed his calls for to dam Ukraine from ever getting into NATO.

Protection Division officers mentioned the troop deployments on Monday and others in current weeks have been non permanent measures designed to shore up the defenses of NATO international locations and deter potential Russian aggression. President Biden and different prime U.S. officers have careworn the nation’s dedication to NATO’s Article 5, which stipulates an assault on one of many alliance’s 30 members is an assault on all. That may imply committing troops to fight to assist one other NATO member. It has been invoked only one time — after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults on New York and the Pentagon.

“These should not everlasting strikes. We’re going to regulate the posture as situations evolve,” the official mentioned.

Whereas the world has rallied round Ukraine and cheered on its defiance, Russia’s lack of progress has led its army to vary its techniques in additional brutal methods. It’s now counting on extra long-range missile and artillery bombardments to subdue Ukrainian resistance, resulting in a spike in civilian casualties and way more injury to condo buildings, faculties and hospitals, in response to U.S. officers.

“The underside line is, extra civilians are being killed and wounded, extra civilian infrastructures being broken or destroyed,” Kirby mentioned.

Whereas Kherson, a metropolis within the nation’s south, fell to Russian forces , Ukraine maintains management over Kyiv, the capital, in addition to Kharkiv and Chernihiv, two different main cities, U.S. officers mentioned.