The Kremlin warned Wednesday that increasing the supply of U.S. arms to Ukraine would aggravate the devastating 10-month war ignited by Russia's invasion, and Russia's defense minister called for expanding Moscow's military by at least 500,000 people.
Speaking during a meeting with his top military brass, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would take lessons learned in the conflict to "develop our armed forces and strengthen the capability of our troops." He said special emphasis would go to developing nuclear forces, which he described as "the main guarantee of Russia's sovereignty."
All Russian men ages 18 to 27 are obliged to serve in the military for one year, but many use college deferments and health exemptions to avoid the draft. Shoigu said the draft age range will be changed to 21 to 30, and the recruits will be offered a choice between serving for one year as draftees or signing a contract with the military as volunteers.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the expansion of Western weapon supplies to Ukraine "leads to an aggravation of the conflict and, in fact, does not bode well for Ukraine." Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center independent think tank, said Zelenskyy's visit could help map out future strategy.
China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and criticized sanctions against Moscow. Beijing has only referred to the invasion as the "Ukraine situation" in deference to Moscow, and accused the U.S. and NATO of provoking Putin by expanding into eastern Europe. The Ukrainian president's office reported Wednesday that Russian attacks on Tuesday killed five civilians and wounded 17. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russia unleashed five missiles and 16 airstrikes on Ukrainian territory and 61 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems.
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