VOA interview: US Army General Costanza discusses Russia's threat to West

The warfare successful Ukraine is reshaping the strategical scenery of Europe. While Western and Eastern European nations wrong the NATO confederation admit the Russian threat, each day, NATO nations bordering Belarus and Russia consciousness the immediacy of the threat.

In an exclusive interrogation with VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze, Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, commandant of the U.S. Army’s V Corps (also known arsenic the Fifth Corps) successful Poland, discusses however NATO adapts to Russia’s evolving tactics portion defending its members’ borders.

This interrogation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: Can you explicate the antithetic menace assessments from Eastern and Western European partners of NATO regarding Russia?

Charles Costanza, commanding wide of the U.S. Army’s V Corps: Clearly, successful the eastbound flank of Europe, the menace is real. They're connected the borderline with Belarus and Russia, and so, they spot that menace each time differently. You spot caller open-source reporting connected the Russian UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, oregon drones] coming implicit Romanian territory and Lithuanian territory. Those incursions person increased. You spot the sabotage operations going connected passim eastbound flank countries and Eastern European countries. So, Russia is expanding that, abbreviated of ... challenges and interference [that would trigger the NATO communal defence clause].

VOA: Do you deliberation Russia is doing it deliberately?

Costanza: Of course, they are. They weaponize migration — I accidental “weaponize” deliberately. This weaponized migration is happening successful Poland, it's each been driven from Russia to interfere successful Eastern Europe. Moldova is simply a near-term illustration with their elections. Russia is actively interfering successful those elections to effort and signifier them successful a pro-Russian way. So, each that is going connected close now. So, that's portion of this menace appraisal portion that isn't needfully impacting the Western European countries arsenic overmuch arsenic Eastern Europe.

VOA: How threatening is Russia’s military?

Costanza: I deliberation there's a presumption that Russia is going to instrumentality 3 to 10 years to reconstitute, and I deliberation that we request to look astatine that a small differently. Russian equipped forces, crushed forces close now, are really bigger than they were earlier the warfare with Ukraine started 2½ years ago, contempt the losses of open-source reporting [of] 600,000 casualties that they've incurred during the people of the war.

They whitethorn not beryllium arsenic good trained, but they're bigger. Their concern basal is connected a wartime footing. Their mobilization basal is connected a wartime footing. They cognize they're warring a Western-trained, West-equipped state with Ukraine. They're learning however to decision those capabilities and those systems implicit the past 2½ years. So, they're modernizing their unit based connected the lessons that they're learning, and I deliberation that's thing we should beryllium acrophobic about. They're modernizing their equipment. They're changing the mode that they combat based connected learning however to combat against Western-trained forces successful Ukraine. And I deliberation that should beryllium a interest for each of us. It intelligibly is to our Eastern European allies.

VOA: How are you preparing to support and deter?

Costanza: First of all, to support a precocious stance connected readiness from a U.S. forces standpoint but besides the NATO standpoint. At the Fifth Corps, 1 of the cardinal things we bash arsenic partners with our multinational corps and multinational divisions crossed the eastbound flank of Europe [is] conscionable to assistance physique their war-fighting capableness arsenic they tract caller capabilities. HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System], for example. Apaches [helicopters] — with Poland conscionable purchasing 96 Apaches from the United States. So, we assistance them to employment those things, those capabilities. But however you employment them astatine the corps level, and however you employment them astatine the part level, we tin help, and we do.

VOA: General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the erstwhile commandant successful main of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and present ambassador to the United Kingdom, precocious gave a code astatine Chatham House successful London successful which helium talked astir the technological advancements of this war, and however this is simply a antithetic warfare than NATO was prepared to fight. How would you measure NATO’s capabilities today?

Costanza: I deliberation you're precisely right. And those are immoderate of the comments that were made by our NATO partners successful this event. I deliberation that the United States is benignant of mounting the modular connected that with a caller programme that our main of unit of the Army [General Randy George] has talked about, which is translation successful contact. So, for the U.S. forces that are rotating implicit present to Europe, we're modernizing them with instrumentality that's disposable close now. So, alternatively of going done our mean four-year acquisition process to get caller equipment, we're taking things that are disposable based connected what we're watching hap successful Ukraine. ... So possibly that tin beryllium a exemplary for our partners and allies.

VOA: We talked astir NATO capabilities. Now I privation to spell backmost to Russian capabilities. How precocious bash you deliberation they are close now?

Costanza: I deliberation the biggest interest is what I said before: They cognize they're warring Western-trained and -equipped forces. And so, arsenic they modernize based connected the lessons that they're learning — not conscionable their equipment, but however they combat — they're truly sharpening their quality to combat america successful the future. And I deliberation that's thing we request to beryllium acrophobic about.

So, those things I conscionable talked astir that we're trying to rapidly present into our brigade to execute the transformation, interaction — the UAS [Unmanned Aircraft Systems, oregon drones], the border, ammunition, the antagonistic UAS, the EW [electronic warfare] capability. And however bash you synchronize each of that capableness truthful that you tin really, rapidly onslaught and termination targets? They've learned however to bash that. And so, we request to beryllium capable to bash that and bash it amended than they do.

VOA: Russia is gaining enactment from China and North Korea close now. Are we acceptable to look this threat?

Costanza: The lessons that I was talking about, the reasons we should beryllium acrophobic astir Russia — they're sharing those lessons with China, with Iran, and vice versa, the capabilities that Iran and China are providing. And present you spot the North Koreans, arsenic well. North Korea is present providing, I deliberation it's an archetypal batch [of] open-source reporting, of 4,000 North Korean soldiers. I deliberation that could perchance conscionable beryllium a starting constituent for what they supply successful presumption of manpower to Russia. And I deliberation that's a occupation near-term present successful Eastern Europe, due to the fact that arsenic we talked astir earlier we started, the situation for Ukrainians is people. It's the magnitude of radical that they person to enactment into this fight. And Russia doesn't attraction however galore losses it takes. I mean, 600,000 [casualties], and they're inactive throwing much manpower astatine it and don't adjacent blink. Ukrainians can't spend to instrumentality those losses. I deliberation that's going to beryllium the limiting origin for that arsenic we determination forward, ticker this warfare proceed into this 3rd period.

VOA: There are antithetic assessments of threats between, let's say, the governmental portion of the NATO confederation and the subject portion of the alliance. How are you uncovering that communal ground?

Costanza: Yeah, I deliberation it's conscionable changeless dialogue, right? And so, I cognize we bash that astatine antithetic levels. So, the combatant commander, the U.S. combat commander, has those discussions astatine the nationalist levels with our NATO partners and allies. We each unrecorded successful Eastern Europe, including myself — successful Poland. We each spot that menace the aforesaid way. It tin beryllium adjacent term.

VOA: What bash you mean by the adjacent term?

Costanza: I think, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years.

VOA: And you're trying to beryllium acceptable for that?

Costanza: U.S. forces are ready, and I tin archer you, our NATO partners and allies are ready. And we're conscionable continuing to physique capabilities.