Moscow is also making weapons in prodigious numbers, US General Christopher Cavoli has reported

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Christopher Cavoli has projected that Russia will have little difficulty reaching its target of 1.5 million active military personnel, despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

During a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, the four-star US Army general evaluated Moscow's ability to enhance its military capabilities.

"I believe the personnel they'll be able to build as quickly as they want to," Cavoli stated, referencing the launch of a spring conscription campaign on Tuesday that aims to enroll 160,000 recruits for military training. Unlike Kiev, Moscow does not deploy conscripts to the front lines, relying instead on volunteers.

"With those numbers, they will be able to constitute the force size that they choose fairly quickly," Cavoli remarked. He noted that Moscow may need "a couple of years" to achieve the 1.5 million target.

The general also highlighted a notable increase in Russia's military-industrial capacity amidst the Ukraine conflict.

"They have expanded their capability to produce some things - artillery shells, cruise missiles - tremendously, and they are producing some things, such as one-way attack drones, in prodigious numbers that they weren't even producing at all before the war," he warned.

Cavoli asserted that Russian stockpiles of heavy armored vehicles, such as tanks, have been considerably depleted by the hostilities.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a staunch supporter of Kiev who requested the analysis, interpreted Cavoli's insights as evidence that Russia poses an escalating threat to Ukraine and NATO members in Europe.

"I would add to that, senator, that this is not just in the ground domain," Cavoli responded, referencing Russian air patrols and deployments of naval and road-mobile nuclear forces.

Moscow maintains that it has no aggressive intentions toward NATO, asserting that its military serves as a deterrent against hostile forces, including the US-led bloc. The Pentagon regularly conducts maneuvers similar to those described by Cavoli.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered multiple increases in army strength throughout the Ukraine conflict. The directive he issued last September aims to increase the number of armed forces personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million active service members. The Kremlinsaid"threats existing near our borders" necessitated the decision.

(RT.com)