Judy: Ukraine's president
volodymyr zelenskyy returned to
Ukraine today.
Yesterday he met with president
Biden in the white house and
received
thunderous applause during his
address to congress.
Meanwhile this week the Russians
announced plans to beef up their
military and double down on the
war effort.
Geoff Bennett has the story.
>> The Russian defense minister
visited Russian soldiers
fighting in Ukraine.
He inspected the soldiers
canteen and dormitories and he
walked through the field where
the Russians are waging war.
Before leaving, his final
message was clear, everything is
fine.
But in a speech to his military
chiefs yesterday, the Russian
president admitted shortcomings.
>> We need to improve the system
of military recruitment offices.
We will can he knew to equip our
strategic forces with the latest
types of weapons.
Geoff: He also pledged to
monetize the military and
stopped to observe surveillance
drones.
Russia plans a 30% expansion of
its armed forces and wants to
form a and bigger units.
In time, Russian troops have
lost ground in Ukraine.
Moscow's recent focus is in the
east, where a city has sustained
a relentless attack.
>> They have been attacking it
day and night, but it stands.
Geoff: In a historic speech last
night, Ukraine's president
thanked Americans for their
support as he called for more
weapons.
>> Your money is not charity.
It is an investment in global
security.
>> The U.S. Has announced an
additional $1.8 billion in aid
to Ukraine.
The new package includes a
missile battery, today president
Putin downplayed the weapons
capabilities.
>> With regards to patriots, it
is a rather all system.
Geoff: But president zelenskyy
said his trip to Washington was
a success.
>> We are coming with good
results, ones that will help.
The victory will be ours.
Geoff: For more on Russia's
plans to rebuild their military
and continue to fight in
Ukraine, we turn to Samuel
bendett, a Russian military
analyst for the center for naval
analyses.
It's great to have you with us.
Vladimir Putin is admitting
mistakes, he is acknowledging
criticism that his army lack the
basic necessities to wage war.
But he's also suggesting that
the Kremlin is digging in for a
protracted war effort.
How should we interpret his
remarks?
Samuel: Well, his remarks are
nothing new to millions of
people who have been following
different telegram channels that
have been screaming about the
deficiencies and problems and
offering very frank critique of
what the Russian forces were
doing in Ukraine and about the
lack of basic supplies and about
the lack of systems and weapons
and a lot of that actually
really came forward during the
mobilization issues that were
also actively covered not just
in Russia and abroad.
And so he really couldn't hide
from the truth in that regard.
As far as this war going long
term, this has always been the
plan.
Neither side is going to give
up.
Russia isn't going to give up.
The Kremlin indicated that this
is a war to the finish, and
therefore he had to announce
that this is going to be a
long-term conflict.
>> Putin said, have no limits in
terms of financing.
Is that so?
I mean, the Russian economy,
struggling under the weight of
western sanctions will likely
limit how much the Kremlin can
spend to improve its military.
Samuel that's correct, and some
: Of what he said.
Maybe posturing, but Russia does
have a lot of resources we have
to remember.
It's a large country with a
diverse economy.
Still, it's got a lot of human
resources material resources,
they're still finances
available.
This may be an indication that
maybe this war isn't going to
last another year.
Perhaps if it drags into 2023.
It will go on for several months
in that year, with whatever
result can be achieved, but
again, he is speaking to the
nation that is looking to him
for leadership.
To deliver a victory.
After all the blood all the
loss, and after all the
resources have been already
dedicated to this conflict.
>> You mentioned all of the
blood and all of the loss.
Russia's defense chief, as you
well know, he announced a plan
to increase Russia's military by
roughly 500,000 service members.
Help us understand the
significance of that, and this
overall effort to reallocate
civilian resources and civilian
labor to this ongoing war in
Ukraine.
Samuel:
Russian military lost a lot of
people over the last year it
lost.
A lot of good officers lost a
lot of experienced officers who
could have made a difference
downrange.
There were a lot of losses
amongst the privates, amongst
the regular ground troops.
Tens of thousands of people are
no longer available, and so
these resources have to be
replenished.
Russia is dedicating the
mobilized troops.
The force that's up to 300,000
that has been called up to
basically sure up its defenses
and to plug the existing gaps.
Excuse me, but for Russia to
continue and for Russia to
actually try and win this
conflict, it needs a lot more
resources than it planned for.
After all, it launched the war
with a very limited
resource-based thinking this is
going to be a very limited
conflict.
It is going to be a long,
long-term conflict,
and Russia needs a lot of
basically bodies to launch at
Ukraine from different
directions, and therefore there
was an announcement that Russia
will have a standing force of up
to 1.5 million of whom 700,000
are going to be the contractors.
These people will have to be
found somewhere.
They will have to be called up,
they'll have to be mobilized.
And all of this, of course, is
against the backdrop of hundreds
of thousands of fighting age men
escaping the country because
they don't want to fight in the
war.
>> There is the ground war, and
there's also the air war.
The us announced this week that
it's providing a patriot missile
battery to Ukraine, considered
one of the most capable long
range air defense systems on the
market.
How much will that change the
dynamic of this war?
It takes months to train troops
on how to use that complex
system as I understand it, and
it also won't be able to provide
blanket cover for the entire
country.
Samuel: Well, it remains to be
seen what the effect of this one
system is going to be.
Maybe this is a test for another
sort of long term transfer of
additional systems.
But as you indicated, one system
is not enough.
Ukraine has a lot of targets.
Civilian targets, military
targets, and it needs protection
over most of them.
And so this this particular
patriot system will have to be
stationed near a high priority
target.
But overall, Ukraine needs lots
of these systems to make a
difference against Russian
missiles and against Russian
drones.
>> Samuel, was this all of this
news from the Russian side.
Was this intentionally designed
as counter programming?
How have the Russians responded
to president Vladimir zelensky
visit to Washington and his
speech last night before that
joint meeting of congress.
Samuel: Well, most of the
country responded in a
predictable fashion because most
of the country follows state
media, so they criticized his
visit.
They criticized United States
for waging the war by proxy via
Ukraine.
They criticized Ukraine for not
leaving room for dialogue or
negotiation in the speech, so of
course it was a very predictable
response.
>> Samuel Bendit is a Russian
military analyst for the center
for naval analyses.
Thanks for your time and for
your insights.