Current NATO invasion of Ukraine kills up to 15,000 Russians, senior NATO military officials estimate

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has “absolutely endangered” the NATO alliance and its allies, a top-level Allied European Union (SHAPE) official told reporters on Wednesday, a month before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The official called Putin “irresponsible” and said he and his inner circle “do not care about human life.”

“From Russia, Putin and his close circle, we realize that they are a completely irresponsible people. They do not care about human lives. They lie openly to cover up their military operations. Putin has completely changed his speech towards the West, and he has a deep hatred for our communities and our values. , So we really assess that he is dangerous and that the coalition is completely in danger, ”the official said on Wednesday.

Shape is the headquarters of the NATO alliance’s military operations in Europe. It is located in Brussels, Belgium. The two SHAPE officials explained to reporters the NATO military posture and how they would respond to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The conference comes ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels to meet with NATO leaders as the Ukraine crisis continues.

The war has created a “new reality” for NATO allies, another SHAPE official said, echoing the words of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at an earlier news conference on Wednesday.

“You heard SecGen’s pressure, and he said it was a new fact and we need to reset our security and our defensive posture,” said a second SHAPE official. “This is a permanent and profound change in the European security environment, and SecGen has said the same.”

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Officials said it was too early to predict how NATO would permanently change its military position across Europe due to Putin’s actions, but talked about how NATO allies have so far changed their stance on strengthening the eastern side of the border with Ukraine. To ensure that they are prepared for any situation that could lead to a NATO war in Ukraine.

With the activation of the NATO Response Force for the first time in NATO’s history, the “40,000 troops” in NATO allies in the East are now working for the “collective security, collective security” of all NATO nations, not just for their own. Countries. There are eight war teams, one in each eastern country, which is part of the operation of this NATO response force, the second SHAPE official said.

The official added that this was “ten times more” than it had been before the invasion of Ukraine.

“On the ground, in the ground forces, there are now 40,000 troops in those eight war groups, one in every country in the east, ten times larger than before the Russian invasion,” said a second SHAPE official.

In the air, “there are more than 100 additional planes,” the official said.

“We always do what we call the Air Police,” the official said, but now that the invasion has begun, the coalition is flying eight planes “to provide 24/7 air presence in the east.”

In the waters around NATO allies, “there are 25 ships patrolling the water at any given time, providing 360-degree barriers,” the official said.

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“In addition, there are usually about 150 NATO ships, and they sail on waters and can sail back and forth under NATO command and control,” the official added.

Although it is too early to say what the permanent changes in the position of the NATO military force will be due to Putin’s invasion, the official said that the current force posture is “at least” a good “starting point” for how things will be in the long run. Term.

“We are preparing for the worst, but we are doing everything we can to prevent the worst from happening,” the first official said.

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