"Throwing meat assaults to take over Ukraine": Kirby on Putin's decision to increase Russian army

He said this during an online briefing on Friday, December 1.

"There is no doubt that he (Putin - ed.) is literally throwing human meat around to try to hold on to the territory they have illegally occupied in Ukraine and to try to seize even more," Kirby said.

According to him, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are superior to the Russians in terms of the quality of troops, leadership, command and control, and weapons that the United States and many countries have provided to Ukraine.

The White House National Security Council Coordinator noted that since Putin cannot match that quality, his response is that he is simply trying to achieve his goals throwing vast numbers of poorly supported troops, as he did near Bakhmut.

"This only emphasizes the difficulties that the Russians are facing in Ukraine and will continue to face. So our strong recommendation to Putin would be that he pulls out of Ukraine, and then he doesn't have to worry about increasing his troop levels," the White House official said.

• On December 1, Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed a decree that provides for an increase in the Russian army by 170,000 troops.