Russian army lacks human resources for rapid offensive in Ukraine – General Cavoli

The Russian army currently lacks the military potential for a quick offensive in Ukraine due to serious problems with human resources.

According to Ukrinform and Voice of America, General Christopher Cavoli, the American general who commands NATO's joint forces in Europe, stated this during a discussion on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Journalists asked him about how the battlefield situation might evolve this year. The commander responded, "I'm not worried about Ukraine suddenly losing."

"I do not see the potential for a massive breakthrough [by the Russians – ed.]. And this is not a political but a military vision. This is due to [the situation – ed.] on both sides – effective defense by the Ukrainians, but also to the difficulties for the Russian side to create significant offensive forces to carry out a potential breakthrough," he explained.

The NATO general anticipates significantly more small-scale offensive actions this year, noting they will be exhausting for Russia.

"We see that they are exhausting for Russia. There is a reason why Russia brought thousands and thousands of soldiers from North Korea," he said.

The military also expects there will continue to be "tensions between the desire to attack and the lack of human resources on the part of the Russians."

"I think this will largely determine the conflict and force the Russians to use more weapons of deterrence, as they have done in recent years, as we have seen," Cavoli concluded.

The Supreme Allied Commander also stated that Russia has ambitions that are not limited to its aggression against Ukraine and pose a real threat to allies in the North Atlantic Alliance. This is evidenced by its hostile actions and statements, which have almost become commonplace.

"There are at least three components of such a conviction. The first is to listen to what its [Russian. – ed.] government is saying. They are already routinely announcing very specific threats to other states, including NATO allies. They are talking about dissatisfaction with the world order and their desire to replace NATO, which we consider an essential component of the security architecture, to replace it with something else. So the things they are saying, including very threatening and physical threats, should be perceived at least with due regard," he noted.

The threat from the Russian Federation is also evidenced by the plans it is announcing. This includes its decision to:

• increase the Russian army by a third,
• create larger military structures on the borders with NATO countries, particularly in North-Eastern Europe, directed against Finland and the Baltic states.

"They are carrying out demonstrative actions to show that they are not only the country that partially occupied the territory of Ukraine, but also the one that carries out sabotage campaigns and other hybrid and destabilizing actions throughout Europe. I believe that these words and actions are very convincing: Russia's intentions are not limited to the conflict with Ukraine," the military officer stressed.

Regarding whether the Alliance can respond to these threats, Cavoli highlighted that NATO's current situation is better than it has been in years. The bloc has undergone structural transformations approved by heads of state and government.

NATO Allies now have detailed defense plans designed for decades, which provides an opportunity to determine the necessary resources to ensure these collective defense plans.