Putin has sent 'nearly 100 percent' of combat forces amassed at the border into Ukraine

The United States assesses that Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent into Ukraine "nearly 100 percent" of the combat forces that were amassed on the border, a senior Defense Department official told reporters on Monday.

But the U.S. does not believe that Russia is “preparing to move additional battalion tactical groups from elsewhere in the country to shore up what they’ve put into Ukraine,” said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

“We have not seen any indication that [Putin] is going to go beyond the amassed combat power that he’s already developed,” said the official, who declined to provide an estimate of how many troops constituted Russia’s overall forces.

Overall, the United States is “not seeing a lot of progress” by Russian forces despite some gains in Ukraine’s south, the official said. Washington, the official added, now believes that Russia is actively recruiting Syrian fighters to aid its assault, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The official said the United States considers it “noteworthy” that Putin has “indicated a reliance now on foreign fighters to fight his war in Ukraine.”

Senior Defense Department officials said last Thursday that Russia had moved roughly 90 percent of its pre-staged combat power across the border into Ukraine. Officials increased that estimate to roughly 92 percent last Friday and to roughly 95 percent Sunday.