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A video has emerged purportedly showing retired Russian Col. Mikhail Khodaryonok admitting on state television that his country needs to “replenish the losses in terms of personnel, weapons and equipment” that it has suffered in the war in Ukraine.
Khodaryonok purportedly made the comments Friday while also questioning whether mobilizing more troops would help Russia in the war, which has now stretched on for 75 days.
The clip begins with Khodaryonok saying “let’s imagine the drumroll, the sound of fanfare, and the mobilization is declared.
A damaged Russian tank is seen on a highway to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday.
(AP/Efrem Lukatsky)
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“How soon under this mobilization will we get the first fighter aviation regiment? We would get it by New Year’s,” he said.
“If tonight we order new ships to be built, how soon will we get the first one? In two years,” he continued.
“That’s the deal with mobilization,” Khodaryonok argued. “If we set a goal of forming a new tank division, when would it be ready? I would say in at least 90 days.”
A part of a destroyed tank and a burned vehicle sit in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 23.
(AP)
“And it wouldn’t be equipped with modern weaponry because we don’t have modern weapons and equipment in our reserves,” he added.
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Khodaryonok, speaking to a panel, also said “sending people armed with weapons of yesteryear into a war of the 21st century to fight against global standard NATO weapons would not be the right thing to do.
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during the Victory Day military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, May 9.
(Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“Of course, we need to replenish the losses in terms of personnel, weapons and equipment, but this should be done through industrial enterprises manufacturing modern, advanced equipment,” he said in the video. “Mobilization would not solve these issues.”
Fox News’ Amy Kellogg, Tariq Khan and Rebekah Koffler contributed to this report.
