Page 60 - RusRPTMar23

last year, at the beginning of the invasion, when the aggressor was losing 1,140 soldiers per day on average. British intelligence said the increase in Russian casualties was likely due to several factors, including a lack of trained personnel, coordination, logistics, and resources at the front.
Half of Russia's main battle tanks have likely been destroyed or captured by Ukraine, a senior United States defence official said in mid January. Russia "has probably lost half of its main battle tank stock in combat and through Ukrainian capture," Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander said during a Center for a New American Security virtual event. The estimate by Wallander, who did not provide an exact figure for the number of tanks lost since Russia invaded in February 2022, comes as Ukraine is set to receive an influx of heavy Western tanks from its supporters.
War
CIA director confirms possibility China may send lethal aid to Russia. CIA Director Bill Burns confirmed that China is considering sending lethal aid to Russia in its war against Ukraine in an interview with CBS News on Feb. 25. "We're confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment," Burns said.
Russia has likely run out of Iranian-made drones. Since around Feb. 15, there have been no reports of Russia using Iranian-made “one-way attack” drones to carry out strikes against Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update. According to the ministry, the lack of Iranian- made drone deployments “likely indicates that Russia has run down its current stock.”
Washington is preparing to increase arms spending because of worries about the Ukraine war’s impact on ammunition supplies. The Pentagon has launched a review of its weapons stockpiles, the US’s most senior military official said. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US planners had been forced to reconsider their assumptions because of the return of 20th century ground-warfare tactics after two decades in which doctrine was shaped by the Iraq and Afghanistan insurgencies. “One of the lessons of this war is the very high consumption rates of conventional munitions, and we are re-examining our own stockages and our own plans to make sure that we got it right,” Milley said in an interview with the Financial Times. “We’re trying to do the analysis so that we can then estimate what we think the true requirement would be. And then we have to put that in the budget,” he added. “Ammunition is very expensive.” The review may result in an increase in the military’s $817bn annual budget.Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg warned this week that Ukraine was using ammunition at a rate “many times higher” than countries in the alliance could produce, straining their defence industries.
Wagner Group claims to have stopped recruiting prisoners for war against Ukraine. Wagner Group head Evgenii Prigozhin’s claim comes nearly half a year after Wagner began recruiting prisoners in mid-2022, whom, according to their contract, are offered an official pardon if they serve six
60 RUSSIA Country Report March 2023 www.intellinews.com