CNBC /USA
Russia is transferring troops to Ukraine from as far away as its Pacific Fleet and is recruiting more mercenaries as it tries to replace lost personnel, according to an assessment from the U.K. Defence Ministry.
“As a result of these losses, it is likely Russia is struggling to conduct offensive operations in the face of sustained Ukrainian resistance,” the ministry said. “Continued personnel losses will also make it difficult for Russia to secure occupied territory.”
Russia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear how many Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began in late February. Ukraine officials said over the weekend that Ukraine has lost 1,300 soldiers.
Moscow is redeploying troops from as far away as Armenia, its Eastern Military District, and the Russian Pacific Fleet, the ministry said.
The Pacific Fleet is based in Vladivostok, Russia. By air, Vladivostok is more than 4,400 miles (7,100 km) from Kyiv.
The U.K. Defence Ministry said Russia is seeking mercenaries from Syria and “private military companies,” the term used to describe Russia-based firms that hire out armed fighters.
Moscow will likely use those mercenaries to hold seized Ukrainian territory so it can shift more of its regular troops to fight Ukrainian troops and “renew stalled offensive operations,” the U.K. ministry said.
Russian corporate fighters have been accused of committing human rights abuses in Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic while working on behalf of Moscow.
Such mercenary services already operated in eastern Ukraine prior to Russia’s current invasion, according to the U.S. government.
In 2017, the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions on the biggest Russian mercenary company, PMC Wagner, and its founder, Dmitriy Utkin, for “actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said last year that Moscow provided security and military services through private mercenary companies to the government of the Central African Republic in exchange for the right to extract gold, uranium and diamonds.