FOG BLOG RUSSIA'S WAR ON UKRAINE LOG: RUSSIA CALLING ON SOLDIERS FROM GEORGIA TO ENTER WAR:

Russia begins to mobilize military reinforcements for Ukraine as casualties mount, Pentagon says...Russia has begun to mobilize military reinforcements to send into Ukraine as its combat losses in the month-old war continue to grow, the Pentagon said Friday, citing its latest intelligence assessments.

“We now have indications that they are drawing on forces from Georgia,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Biden administration. “Russian troops that are based in Georgia. We don’t have an exact number.”...Thousands of Russian troops are regularly stationed at military outposts from Georgia to Syria to Tajikistan, many of them in motorized rifle brigades that experts consider combat-capable and ready to deploy immediately.

Those forces have become the centerpiece of what the Pentagon believes is the Kremlin’s plan to keep its ground offensive going, as Russian commanders in Ukraine sustain heavy losses. According to the Pentagon, Russia now has between 85 and 90 percent of its “combat power” remaining after meeting a ferocious resistance in and around cities throughout the country.

NATO officials estimated earlier this week that as many as 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in the war, which began four weeks ago. Russian defense officials have a far lower estimate, reporting Friday that only 1,351 of its servicemen had been killed.