SOHR: Pentagon Says Russia May Send ‘Replacement Troops’ to Ukraine

As Russia’s war on Ukraine is in the midst of its third week, Pentagon officials say Russian President Vladimir Putin may send in replacement troops to offset war losses.

There are massive discrepancies in the reported number of Russian soldier casualties and injuries in Ukraine. Though Moscow continually reports low numbers, troop casualties may be higher than what Russian officials are saying.

“We have seen them deliberate and discuss the possibility of resupply to include replacement troops,” a Pentagon senior defense official said Wednesday. “But we don’t have—we haven’t seen any indications that anything is moving right now outside of what they have already in Ukraine. But we know they said that they are suffering losses every day; losses of people, losses of equipment, losses of aircraft.”

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported that over 13,500 Russian troops have been killed since February 24. They also said the Ukraine military has destroyed over 1,200 Russian armored personnel carriers, 640 vehicles and 404 tanks.

But Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, estimated a much lower number last week.

“With low confidence, somewhere between [2,000] and 4,000,” Berrier said to the House Intelligence Committee. “That number comes from some intelligence sources but also open source, and how we pull that together.”

U.S. officials estimate Russia has deployed over 82 percent of its forces that were positioned outside Ukraine.

Russia offered a shockingly low casualty quantity on March 2. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed 498 Russian troops had died and 1,597 more had been injured.

Losses on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides have been difficult to verify, but talks about Russia sending in replacement troops may prove the U.S. and Ukraine’s higher estimates true.

A U.S. senior defense official says there are no indications that replacement troops have moved into Ukraine yet. However, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense says some have already arrived.

Putin offered Syrian military personnel monthly salaries from $200 to $300 USD for six months, including other “privileges” to join Russia’s fight against Ukraine.

Over 40,000 Syrians have enlisted to fight, according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)—a Syrian non-governmental group.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) was made aware of Russia’s intent to call for backup.

“We find it noteworthy that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] believes that he needs to rely on foreign fighters to supplement what is a very significant commitment of combat power inside Ukraine as it is,” a DOD spokesperson said, adding that Russia is turning “frustrated by a stiff Ukrainian resistance.”

Russia’s reinforcements may be arriving sooner than later. Four Russian warships were spotted sailing through a strait in northeastern Japan Wednesday.

The Japanese Defense Ministry said the ships could possibly be transporting troops and combat vehicles to Ukraine. The vessels then entered the Tsugaru Strait, about 430 miles east of Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok.