UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 80 - MAY 9, 2022

The Russian military continues to face major challenges in bolstering its troops. A senior US defense official stated on May 9 that the US had not observed any signs of a "new major Russian mobilization," but that members of the PMC firm Wagner Group see the need for "urgently" deploying hundreds of thousands of additional soldiers to reinforce Russian efforts in the Donbas.

The official pointed out that Russia currently has 97 tactical battalion task groups (BTGs) stationed in Ukraine, but that the BTGs are moving in and out of Ukraine to reequip and resupply, indicating that Russian troops are still taking significant damage in combat. ISW has previously noted that most Russian BTGs are heavily depleted and that counting BTGs is not a useful measure of Russian combat power.

The Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) claimed that inadequately trained and poorly equipped Russian conscripts are still being sent into active combat, although the Kremlin denies such a practice. A prisoner of war from the BARS-7 Command of the Wagner Group claimed that a "covert mobilization" is underway in Russia to send conscripts to deal with combat damage in the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The full Russian Offensive Update 80 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

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