The UK Defense Ministry reported that Russia’s establishment of the 44th Army Corps in Luga under the Leningrad Military District highlights Moscow’s difficulties in building up wider forces while sustaining large-scale combat operations in Ukraine.

Recently, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Russia, having enlisted hundreds of thousands of contract soldiers, would establish two new armies and 30 formations, comprising 14 divisions and 16 brigades.

The UK Defense Ministry wrote:

• Recruiting adverts have been posted for the new 44th Army Corps in Luga, in the newly-established Leningrad Military District. Russia is making efforts to expand its forces in the north-west of the country, as most of its forces remain dedicated to operations in Ukraine.

• Russia will almost certainly have to decide whether new units such as the 44th Army Corps remain in their garrison locations once established, or if they are transferred to operations in Ukraine to maintain combat power there. Newly established units have previously been immediately committed to Ukraine, and it is almost certain that the need to sustain operations is hampering Russia’s wider force expansion ambitions.

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