The mobilization of around 10,000 North Korean troops on Ukrainian soil means Putin is under less pressure to replace the roughly 1,000 Russian troops who are disappearing on the battlefield every day.
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According to the British Ministry of Defense, Russia lost 70,000 troops in May and June alone.
Putin resorted to a so-called “meat grinder” tactic, which involves advancing thousands of troops toward Ukraine’s defense lines in order to exhaust their resources, resulting in colossal Russian casualties.
Yet despite the depletion of military manpower, Putin managed to spare the major cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow from military obligation.
“They used prisoners, conscripts, but they took them from remote areas; they did not touch big cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg,” explains Virginijus Sinkevicius in Europe Conversation.
“And now that they see a blatant lack of troops, they have drawn on North Korea,” he added.
Now a Green Party MEP in Lithuania, he says the West should not feel “war tired” as Ukraine enters its third year of a massive Russian invasion.
“I can’t blame Ukrainians for being exhausted by the war. They have lost so many loved ones, family members, and they are fighting back fiercely.
But, we in Europe, I don’t understand why there is fatigue linked to war. We are not at war. We are not doing enough.
And I hear more and more people, leaders talking about war fatigue,” he says.
He added that the current malaise in Europe and the lack of a coherent response to Zelensky’s Victory Plan were of great concern. Added to this are the new troops deployed in favor of Russia, as well as the latter’s growing capabilities. Meanwhile, Ukraine faces significant recruitment problems and restrictions on the use of weapons handed to it by the West.
“We don’t know how far Russia will go. Putin said he would never attack Ukraine, which shows they have already broken many rules.
And with the military capabilities it has developed and its numbers, it is unclear how far it could go. »
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