Chief of General Staff Calls Russian Military Reform to Anticipate Possible Expansion of NATO

President Vladimir Putin with General Valery Gerasimov (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - General Valery Gerasimov, commander of Russia's special military operations in Ukraine, said Moscow's recent military reforms were in response to possible NATO expansion and the "Western collective" use of Kyiv to wage a hybrid war.

In his first public comments since his appointment on Jan. 11, General Gerasimov also acknowledged troop mobilization problems, after public criticism forced President Vladimir Putin to rebuke the military.

The military reforms, announced in mid-January, have been approved by President Putin and can be adapted to respond to threats to Russia's security, Gerasimov told the Argumenty i Fakty news website in remarks published late Monday.

"Currently, those threats include North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aspirations to expand into Finland and Sweden, as well as the use of Ukraine as a tool to wage a hybrid war against our country", said the general who is also the Russian Chief of Military Staff.

Finland and Sweden signed up to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

Under Moscow's new military plan, an army corps will be added to Karelia in northern Russia, which borders Finland.

The reforms also called for two additional military districts, Moscow and Leningrad, which existed before they were merged in 2010, to become part of the Western Military District.

In Ukraine, Russia will add three motorized rifle divisions as part of a combined arms formation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which Moscow claims it annexed in September.

"The main objective of this work is to ensure the guarantee of the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country", said General Gerasimov.

He added that modern Russia has never before seen such an "intensity of military hostilities", forcing it to carry out offensive operations to stabilize the situation.

"Our country and its armed forces today acted against the entire collection of the West", said General Gerasimov.

General Gerasimov and the Ministry of Defense leadership have faced sharp criticism for setbacks on the battlefield and Moscow's failure to secure victory in a campaign the Kremlin expected to be short-lived.

The country's mobilization of some 300,000 additional personnel in the fall also went awry.

"The system of mobilization training in our country is not fully adapted to the new modern economic relations", explains Gerasimov.

"So, I have to fix everything as it goes on", he said.

In the 11 months since invading Ukraine, Russia has shifted its rhetoric about war from operations to "denazify" and "demilitarize" its neighbors, turning it into a defense against an aggressive West.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies have called it an unprovoked act of aggression, with allies sending increasingly heavy weaponry to Ukraine to help it fight off Russian troops.