Russia Sends 1,000 Mercenaries To Ukraine To Replace Declining Troop Performance

Zhytomyr Region Defense Forces confiscate a Russian truck loaded with anti-tank guided missiles (Photo via @ArmedForcesUkr)

JAKARTA - A senior Western intelligence official received information that Vladimir Putin will increase the number of troops in Ukraine. The Russian president will send 1,000 mercenaries to Ukraine with the aim of destroying cities so that they fall immediately.

Quoted from CNN International, Saturday, March 5, the prediction was and could cause significant civilian casualties.

The United States itself has seen some indications that Russian mercenaries may have been involved in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in several places. But a senior US defense official said it was not clear where or in what numbers the troops were acting.

"We have seen some indications that they were employed," the official said.

In various information shared by the Ukrainian authorities, their troops are claimed to have succeeded in detaining a large number of Russian soldiers. On average the soldiers sent were very young and they didn't even know what the problem was that caused the war to break out.

Some Russian troops are said to be struggling with morale and setbacks on the battlefield. This is also reportedly what brought a massive convoy to the north of Kyiv to a halt for the past few days.

Mercenary troops will fortify the flagging unit, the official said, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its second weekend.

The official added that the US believes the mercenaries are already in Ukraine. They underperformed when faced with tougher-than-expected resistance from Ukraine.