Russia will suffer “enormous” losses in men and equipment in the war in Ukraine and its army will emerge “weakened” from the conflict, a senior German army officer said in an interview quoted by AFP and Agerpres.

“You know that according to Western intelligence services, 300,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or so badly wounded that they can no longer be mobilized for war,” General Christian Freuding, who oversees support for Kyiv, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung Bundeswehr.

The general, who is also a top adviser to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, confirmed a declassified December 12 estimate by US intelligence that 315,000 Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

“The losses of the Russians in people and equipment are huge,” the German general believed. As for equipment, “we believe that they (the Russians) have lost several thousand tanks and armored vehicles,” he added.

At the same time, “the Russians still manage to recruit personnel, including by delivering prisoners” to the front, General Freunding estimated. “And, of course, we see large-scale investments in the arms industry,” he added.

The German army did not expect such “resistance” of the Russian troops

President Vladimir Putin recently announced that Russia has successfully recruited 486,000 soldiers by 2023. He has also vowed to continue building up military capabilities as Russia refocuses its economy on military action and is suspected of receiving large amounts of ammunition from North Korea, AFP said.

The German general admitted that Russia was showing a greater “capacity for resistance” than what Western countries had estimated at the beginning of the war.

“Maybe what we didn’t see, or didn’t want to see, is that they can continue to source from allies, whether it’s North Korea, China or countries in the Global South,” he said, referring to the big yes… the so-called “South.” countries that refuse to join the West’s positions, such as the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

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