Russian recruits board a bus at a military recruitment center in Volzhskiy, Volgograd region, Russia,
Russian army reservists ordered to active duty in President Vladimir Putin’s conscription of 300,000 troops have begun arriving in Ukraine to join a faltering invasion that has lasted for more than half a year and sparked protests throughout Russia.
A senior military official at the Pentagon said Mr. Putin’s latest move, combined with a widely derided annexation vote in occupied areas of Ukraine, is “certainly something to be concerned with.”
“When you talk about the mobilization of upwards of 300,000 people, it’s much harder to generate that force than I think folks will say,” the military official told reporters on Wednesday.
According to social media reports, at least one of the newly deployed Russian troops has been killed in combat in Ukraine. “The mother was going back and forth on social media about the loss of her son,” the military official said.
The Pentagon said it could take several weeks to determine where most of the Russian conscripts will be sent.
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