Russia increasing size of its army and creating new brigades - Ukraine's Defense Minister
Photo: Rustem Umerov (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Russia continues to increase the size of its army, specifically by creating new brigades for the war in Ukraine, states Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov.
"Russian forces will continue to grow. They are increasing the size of their forces. They are creating new brigades. By June 1, they reached half of what they aimed to achieve," said Umierov.
The Minister of Defense believes that Russia is currently facing problems with mobilization, which is why it is using troops from North Korea.
"They are using many mercenaries from Africa and Asia. Now, they are using North Korea, which means they have problems, but they are not stopping, they are growing. We know the exact number. It’s a significant number," he said.
According to him, Ukraine is currently working on creating forces capable of countering Russia, as the priority is defensive and stabilization operations.
"That is why we are growing, to prevent any advantage," he emphasized.
Cooperation between North Korea and Russia
At the beginning of autumn, media outlets began reporting that North Korea was sending soldiers to Russia, who would later fight against Ukraine. It was reported that tens of thousands of North Korean troops were being mobilized. Later, it became known that North Korea also supplied long-range missile and artillery systems to Russia.
RBC-Ukraine showed that the media had noticed the movement of North Korean Koksan artillery systems to Russia.
It is also worth noting that Russian soldiers themselves have been complaining about Putin over low war-related payments.
