By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2014 – The Russian troops amassed along
the Ukrainian border have evolved to an exceptionally capable force, Defense
Department spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren told Pentagon reporters today.
While NATO estimates the number of Russian troops inside
Ukraine number between 1,000 and 2,000, a significantly larger force is massed
at the Russia-Ukraine border, Warren said.
“We are continuing to say [there are] more than 10,000
Russian personnel along the border,” he said. “What I will say is that the
force that we see [already] along the border is exceptionally capable,” adding
that it’s probably more capable and more lethal than it was before.
Combined arms Russian force
“This is a combined arms force,” the colonel said. “It
includes land power, indirect fire [and] air defense. It is a capable combined
arms force that we remain very concerned about.” It is organized with ground
forces, the colonel said, and there are higher concentrations of field
artillery, air defense and rockets, along with enablers such as engineers,
logistics and combat service support
Warren noted the buildup of the Russian forces on the border
has occurred over time and is an “evolution.”
The Defense Department continues to provide assistance to
Ukraine in the form of nonlethal aid, Warren said.
De-escalate the situation
“The whole idea is to de-escalate [the situation],” he
added, “so we’re very sensitive to providing things that will cause an
escalation. We’ve been looking at it very seriously, and the decision now is to
focus on non-lethal aid.”
Warren said Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, commander of
U.S. European Command, and NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, also has
expressed his concern. “And I know General Breedlove was out earlier this morning,
in fact, also talking about this and discussing the fact that several nations,
individually and bilaterally, are in discussions with the Ukrainians as well as
NATO as a whole,” Warren added.
NATO heads of state began an alliance summit meeting today
in Wales.
NATO dialogue
Russia’s actions, Warren said, have forced an increased
dialogue on the financial contributions of all of the NATO nations.
“We’re seeing that in everyone’s public discussions from all
of our senior leaders that actions out of Russia … are cause for all of the
NATO member states to take a close look at their contributions to defense,” he
said. “This is the purpose of these summits -- to work through these kinds of
issues. There’s no question the Europeans are acutely aware of Russian actions
in their back yard.”
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