Putin pushes to rebuild Russia’s military as its invasion of Ukraine grinds on

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• Judy Woodruff:

  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned to Ukraine today. Yesterday, he met with President Biden at the White House, and he received thunderous applause during his address to Congress.

  Meanwhile, this week, the Russians announced plans to beef up their military and to double down on the war effort.

  Geoff Bennett has that story.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu today visited Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

  He inspected the soldiers' canteen and dormitories and he walked through the fields where the Russians are waging war. Before leaving, his final message was clear: Everything is fine.

  But in a speech to his military chiefs yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted shortcomings.

• Vladimir Putin, Russian President (through translator):

  We need to improve the system of military recruitment offices. We will continue to equip our strategic forces with the latest types of weapons.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Putin also pledged to modernize the military and yesterday stopped to serve a Moscow's newest weapons, including surveillance drones.

  Russia plans a 30 percent expansion of its armed forces and wants to form new and bigger units. Meantime, Russian troops have lost ground in Ukraine. Ukrainian troops this year reclaimed more than half the territory Russia has taken. Moscow's recent focus is in the east, in Donetsk, where the city of Bakhmut has sustained a relentless attack.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:

  They have been attacking it day and night, but Bakhmut stands.

  (APPLAUSE)

• Geoff Bennett:

  In his historic speech to a joint meeting of Congress last night, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Americans for their support, as he called for more weapons.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy:

  Your money is not charity. It's an investment in the global security.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The U.S. has announced an additional $1.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine. The new package includes a Patriot missile battery, its most advanced air defense weapon.

  Today, President Putin downplayed the weapon's capabilities.

• Vladimir Putin (through translator):

  With regards to Patriots, it's a rather old system.

• Geoff Bennett:

  But in a video addressed to his nation, President Zelenskyy said his trip to Washington was a success.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy (through translator):

  We are coming with good results, ones that will help. The victory will be ours.

• Geoff Bennett:

  For more on Russia's plans to rebuild their military and continue to fight in Ukraine, we turn to Samuel Bendett, a Russian military analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses.

  It's great to have you with us.

  And Vladimir Putin, he is admitting mistakes. He's acknowledging criticism that his army lacked the basic necessities to wage war. But he's also suggesting that the Kremlin is digging in for a protracted war effort.

  How should we interpret his remarks?

  Samuel Bendett, Center for Naval Analyses: Well, his remarks are nothing new to millions of people who've been following different Telegram channels that have been screaming about the deficiencies and problems and offering very frank critique of what the Russian forces were doing in Ukraine, and about the lack of basic supplies, and about the lack of systems and weapons.

  And a lot of that actually really came forward during the mobilization issues that were also actively covered, not just in Russia and abroad. And so he really couldn't hide from the truth in that regard.

  As far as this war going long term, this has always been the plan. Neither side is going to give up. Russia isn't going to give up. The Kremlin indicated that this is a war to the finish. And, therefore, he had to announce that this is going to be a long-term conflict.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Putin said — quote — "We have no limits in terms of financing."

  Is that so? I mean, the Russian economy struggling under the weight of Western sanctions will likely limit how much the Kremlin can spend to improve its military.

• Samuel Bendett:

  That's correct.

  And some of what he said may be posturing. But Russia does have a lot of resources. We have to remember it's a large country with a diverse economy still. It's got a lot of human resources, material resources. There are still finances available.

  This may be an indication that maybe this war isn't going to last another year. Perhaps, if it drags into 2023, it will go on for several months in that year with whatever result can be achieved. But, again, he is speaking to the nation that is looking to him for leadership to deliver a victory after all the blood, all the loss, and after all the resources have been already dedicated to this conflict.

• Geoff Bennett:

  You mentioned all of the blood and all of the loss.

  Russia's defense chief, as you well know, he announced a plan to increase Russia's military by roughly 500,000 service members. Help us understand the significance of that and this overall effort to reallocate civilian resources and civilian labor to this ongoing war in Ukraine.

• Samuel Bendett:

  Well, Russia military lost a lot of people over the last year. It lost a lot of good officers. It lost a lot of experienced officers who could have made a difference downrange.

  There were a lot of losses amongst the privates, amongst the regular ground troops. And tens of thousands of people are no longer available. And so these resources have to be replenished. Russia is dedicating the mobilized troops, the force that's up to 300,000 that has been called up, to basically shore up its defenses and to plug the existing gaps. Excuse me.

  But for Russia to continue and for Russia to actually try and win this conflict, it needs a lot more resources than it planned for. After all, it launched the war with a very limited resource base, thinking this is going to be a very limited conflict.

  It is going to be a long-term conflict. And Russia needs a lot of, basically, bodies to launch at Ukraine from different directions. And, therefore, there was an announcement that Russia will have a standing force of up to 1.5 million, of whom 700,000 are going to be the contractors.

  These people will have to be found somewhere. They will have to be called up. They will have to be mobilized. And all of this, of course, is against the backdrop of hundreds of thousands of fighting-age men escaping the country because they don't want to fight in the war.

• Geoff Bennett:

  There is the ground war, and there's also the air war. The U.S. announced this week that it's providing a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, considered one of the most capable long-range air defense systems on the market.

  How much will that change the dynamic of this war? It takes months to train troops on how to use that complex system, as I understand it. And it also won't be able to provide blanket cover for the entire country.

• Samuel Bendett:

  Well, it remains to be seen what the effect of this one system is going to be.

  Maybe this is a test for another sort of long-term transfer of additional systems. But, as you indicated, one system is not enough. Ukraine has a lot of targets, civilian targets, military targets. And it needs protection over most of them.

  And so this particular Patriot system will have to be stationed near a high-priority target. But, overall, Ukraine needs lots of these systems to make a difference against Russian missiles and against Russian drones.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Samuel, was this — all of this news from the Russian side, was this intentionally designed as counterprogramming?

  How have the Russians responded to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington and his speech last night before that joint meeting of Congress?

• Samuel Bendett:

  Well, most of the country responded — responded in a predictable fashion, because most of the country follows state media.

  And so they criticized Zelenskyy's visit. They criticized the United States for waging the war by proxy via Ukraine. They criticized Ukraine for not leaving room for dialogue or negotiation in the speech. So, of course, it was — it was a very predictable response.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Samuel Bendett is a Russian military analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses.

  Thanks for your time and for your insights.

• Samuel Bendett:

  Thank you.