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Russia’s Crimea problem keeps getting worse

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Russia’s Crimea problem keeps getting worse

Ukrainian commandos again clashed with Russian troops in Crimea this week, as Kyiv maintained its steady drip of attacks on the occupied peninsula, a varied campaign that has forced some of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s most modern ships to leave their home port of Sevastopol and seek safer waters.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence agency (GUR) posted footage of the latest raid to Telegram on Wednesday, declaring that troops had “landed on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and inflicted fire damage on the Moscow occupiers.” The video showed teams of special operations soldiers using what appear to be jet ski-style small boats to come ashore, before posing with a Ukrainian flag.

GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Ukrainska Pravda of the raid: “There was a battle with the Russian occupiers; many were killed and wounded among the invaders’ personnel. Unfortunately, there are losses among Ukrainian defenders too, though these are still not as many as among the Russians.”

If Yusov’s reports are accurate, the operation is the latest in a slew of Ukrainian victories on the peninsula. In recent months, Ukrainian attacks have destroyed valuable radar and anti-air defense systems in Crimea, and Ukrainian special forces teams took back control of strategic Black Sea oil rigs that had been in Russian military use for several years.

Meanwhile, naval drones and cruise missiles struck the main Black Sea harbor in Sevastopol, destroying two ships in their dry dock. The Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in the city was later destroyed by cruise missiles, reportedly killing several top officers.

Satellite images published this week showed several Black Sea Fleet ships leaving Sevastopol, an apparent admission of Russia’s inability to protect the nucleus of its regional power projection, and the heart of Russian influence on the occupied peninsula. Some relocated to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, while others sailed to the smaller Crimean port of Feodosia.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry by email to request comment.

Several of the vessels that have left Sevastopol carry long-range Kalibr cruise missiles, which Moscow has been using to wreak havoc on Ukrainian infrastructure.

“This is why they removed them from Sevastopol, which they now probably consider is under an increased level of threat,” Andriy Ryzhenko, a retired Ukrainian naval captain and now a strategic expert at the defense and logistics consultant company Sonata, told Newsweek.

The relocation of the Kalibr-capable ships does not make a significant difference to Russia’s cruise missile operational capabilities, Ryzhenko said. “It’s an insignificant change,” he said. “Increased range means additional minutes of flight time, but Russia is still able to hit any point within Ukraine using these maritime-based Kalibr missiles.”

The Black Sea Fleet had already been forced to shelve any plans of an amphibious assault on southern Ukraine, something that was much feared by Kyiv earlier in the conflict. The southern Ukrainian coast is now peppered with anti-ship missile batteries, with the wreck of the Moskva—the Black Sea Fleet flagship sunk in April 2022—testament to their potency.

“There is a very low probability” for a Russian landing operation, Ryzhenko said. “There are no operational preconditions for that.”

Russia’s recent travails in Crimea carry great political significance. Moscow’s stunning seizure of the peninsula in 2014 has ever since been lauded as proof of President Vladimir Putin‘s strategic genius, the manifestation of a revitalized Russia capable of cowing its foreign adversaries and reestablishing the Kremlin’s historic sphere of influence.

Images of Russian tourists fleeing Crimea’s beaches in droves have chipped away at the peninsula’s fortress-like image. Repeated closures of the Kerch Strait Bridge due to Ukrainian strikes have choked energy supplies to Crimea, while the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam has threatened the peninsula’s water supply.

The construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge was Putin’s crowning Crimean glory. Repeated Ukrainian attacks on the structure underscore Kyiv’s public intention to liberate the entire peninsula per its 1991 borders, regardless of Western fears that threatening Crimea might prompt Russian escalation, perhaps even a nuclear response.

The isolation of Crimea is a key goal of Kyiv’s ongoing counteroffensive in southeastern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops are looking to sever the “land bridge” of occupied territory connecting Crimea to western Russia, hoping this will precipitate a regional Russian military collapse or another “goodwill gesture”—as the Russian defense ministry has described previous major retreats in Ukraine—from Crimea.

The ongoing construction of defensive fortifications in Crimea—some 60 miles from the closest portion of the front line and more than 100 miles from the areas of heaviest fighting—seem to indicate concern in Moscow.

“There is only the territory of Ukraine, including Crimea, where heavy battles are being fought to destroy the Russian occupation group and the ambitions of the Russian authoritarian state,” Mykhailo Podolyak—an adviser to the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s office—wrote on social media last weekend.

“Crimea will definitely be demilitarized and liberated,” the official added in a separate post. “Merchant ships will return to the Black Sea. And the Russian warships will eventually take their rightful place, turning into an iconic underwater museum for divers that will attract tourists from all over the world.”

Russia "evacuating" officers’ families as Ukraine targets next key outpost

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Russia "evacuating" officers’ families as Ukraine targets next key outpost

Russia is evacuating officers’ families from the Ukrainian city of Tokmak as Kyiv’s forces advance on the southern Zaporizhzhia front, an official said on Wednesday.

“‘There is no panic’, but there is panic,” Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Ukraine’s occupied southern city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, said in a post on his Telegram channel of the situation in Tokmok, which Kyiv is hoping to liberate as part of its ongoing counteroffensive.

Tokmak is a small, strategic city just a few miles behind the current front lines in Zaporizhzhia that currently serves as a key rail and road hub for Moscow’s occupying forces. It lies on a key route that Kyiv may use to cut off the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from other occupied territories.

The British defense ministry said last month that Russian troops have been scrambling to fortify that area because of “growing concern” over Kyiv advancing through Russian lines in the occupied region.

“The occupiers on the Melitopol front are preparing for a hot autumn. It is already scorching in Tokmak: a few weeks ago the occupiers began to evacuate ‘authority’ bodies, and a few days ago the Russian officers began intensively evacuating their families,” said Fedorov.

Russians have begun to “move” educational institutions—schools, academies and colleges, Fedorov said. “Yesterday evening it was announced that ‘administrative institutions’, shops, and the market will not operate today.”

“Whatever we are preparing for, the enemy is definitely not happy,” the exiled Melitopol mayor added.

Melitopol, which had a pre-war population of 150,000, was among the first regions to fall to Russian forces after the full-scale invasion began last February. Fedorov was captured and detained by Russian special services in March 2022 for six days until he was freed in a prisoner exchange.

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s defense ministry via email for comment.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank reported on September 26 that Russian forces —including the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division, the 71st Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment—rushed to fortify the Tokmak area as Kyiv’s troops were gaining ground.

The U.S. think tank said the move suggests “the Russian command has not manned the multi-echeloned defense in southern Ukraine in depth.” Most Russian forces in the area appear to be deployed “to immediate frontline areas,” it said.

“The deployment of the 70th and 71st Motorized Rifle Regiments as far back as Tokmak suggests that elements of the same Russian formations and units defending at forward positions are holding positions, likely in smaller numbers, in subsequent defensive layers,” the ISW added.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.

Russia loses 280,000 troops as attacks intensify in eastern Ukraine: Kyiv

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Russia loses 280,000 troops as attacks intensify in eastern Ukraine: Kyiv

The number of Russian troops killed since the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has passed 280,000, according to a Thursday announcement from the Ukrainian armed forces.

The updated tally comes as a Kyiv military spokesperson told local media that Russia has recently been intensifying its attacks on the front line in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk.

The death toll for Russian soldiers was reported by the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, which said Moscow has lost 280,470 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, which Russian President Vladimir Putin launched on February 24, 2022.

Newsweek has not been able to independently verify Ukraine’s tally, and other estimates tend to be more conservative than Kyiv’s. The Kremlin does not frequently comment on its own estimates of troop casualties, and when it does, experts have said its numbers are not accurate.

Based on Ukraine’s data, Russia’s personnel losses reached 280,470 troops—which includes 3,150 lost in the past week—as Putin’s forces have reportedly increased the ferocity of their attacks after suffering multiple battlefield setbacks against Kyiv’s ongoing counteroffensive.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email for comment.

Illia Yevlash, a spokesperson for Kyiv’s Eastern Grouping of Forces, appeared Thursday on a daily news program on Ukraine’s 1+1 TV channel, where he discussed the increase of Russian strikes around the cities of Lyman in the Donetsk region and Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.

Lyman and Kupiansk had already been the sites of heavy Russian offensives since the summer. Yevlash reported in late August that Putin’s forces had dedicated more than 100,000 troops and thousands of pieces of equipment in the Lyman-Kupiansk direction, according to news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

Yevlash said on Thursday that in addition to increased attacks on the front line in the Lyman-Kupiansk area, Russia’s military had seemingly turned its focus to Makiivka, according to an English translation by The Kyiv Independent, an online newspaper. A village in Luhansk region, Makiivka is located approximately 19 miles north of Lyman and 37 miles south of Kupiansk.

The spokesperson said eight skirmishes took place in this area of eastern Ukraine in the past day alone. Yevlash further noted that Russia has been hitting the region not only with ground troops but also with its air forces, using jet fighters and helicopters in attacks, according to The Kyiv Independent’s translation.

Bakhmut battle sees six Russian tanks destroyed in just a day: Ukraine

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Bakhmut battle sees six Russian tanks destroyed in just a day: Ukraine

Russia lost six tanks in the span of 24 hours during clashes near the city of Bakhmut, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Thursday.

“In one day we destroyed six Russian tanks in the Bakhmut direction,” said Syrskyi, who is in operational control of Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive efforts in the southeast of the country.

Last month, more than three months into its counteroffensive to reclaim territory seized by Russia in the war, Ukraine announced that it had reclaimed the village of Andriivka, roughly six miles south of Bakhmut. Kyiv said that Moscow’s forces in the area were left “in tatters” after the battle. Bakhmut has seen some of the fiercest clashes of the conflict, and Ukraine’s counteroffensive is advancing toward the industrial city.

“The Asgard group, the Ochi unit of the 120th Separate Airborne Brigade worked in cooperation with the Shark group of the 28th Brigade, the Klavdich group of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, and the head of the electronic warfare and cyber warfare service of the 28th Brigade” worked to destroy the Russian tanks near Bakhmut, the commander said in a post on his official Telegram channel.

“Our soldiers canceled three T-72 tanks, one T-80 and two T-90,” his statement added. “Glory to Ukraine.”

Newsweek couldn’t independently verify the Russian losses and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a post on social media on Thursday that near Bakhmut, Russian forces “made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost ground in the vicinities of Hryhorivka, Klishchiivka, and Andriivka (Donetsk oblast).”

“The Ukrainian defense forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidate their new positions,” the General Staff said.

It said that since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Moscow has lost 4,757 tanks, including 12 tanks in the past 24 hours.

Newsweek has not been able to independently verify Ukraine’s figures. Estimates of military casualties in the conflict vary widely, with figures provided by Ukraine usually outstripping those given by its Western allies. Russia rarely releases figures on its own troop losses, but when it does, its estimates are far lower than those of Ukraine.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.

Russia condemned after dozens killed in strike on grocery store

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Russia condemned after dozens killed in strike on grocery store

Ukrainian officials on Thursday said dozens of civilians were killed after a Russian strike hit a grocery store in the Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the incident as a demonstrably brutal Russian crime and a terrorist attack on an ordinary grocery store. He said 48 people were killed, but Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko later updated the death toll to at least 51, including a child.

Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said a café and grocery shop were struck by Russian forces in the village of Hroza, which is in Kharkiv’s Kupyansk district. The attack reportedly involved a missile or shells and occurred at about 1:15 p.m. local time.

The strike is believed to be the deadliest Russian attack on Ukrainian civilians since an early 2022 strike in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. In that incident, at least 50 people were killed after Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s forces struck a railway station.

“My condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones! Help is being provided to the wounded,” Zelensky said on his Telegram account Thursday. “Russian terror must be stopped. Anyone who helps Russia circumvent sanctions is a criminal.”

Klymenko told local media that someone from each family was at the scene of the attack in Hroza, which is home to about 330 people.

“There may still be people under the rubble of the destroyed shop and café, so rescuers, police and local residents continue to sort through the debris,” Klymenko added in a Telegram message.

Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a U.S.-born spokesperson of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), called Russia a “death cult” in a statement.

“This attack proves yet again that because of the Kremlin’s failures on the battlefield they choose to resort to terrorism and genocide against the civilian population of Ukraine,” Ashton-Cirillo told Newsweek. “This attack is yet more proof why every war criminal from the Moscow regime must face consequences for their crimes against humanity.”

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email for comment.

Images and video quickly circulated on social media of emergency personnel working through the rubble at the scene, while other more graphic images showed bodies of victims on the ground.

Along with condemnation from various Kyiv officials, the attack has been denounced by international figures.

“I hope every single ‘antiwar’ appeaser who thinks Ukraine should ‘make a deal’ with Russia sees the photos of this brutal and militarily pointless attack on a grocery store,” conspiracy theory expert/author Mike Rothschild wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “What ‘deal’ can be made with killers of children?”

Andrew Mercado, a U.S. Army veteran and independent journalist, wrote on X that “these Ukrainian civilians were out at the grocery store when Russia sent missiles and decided they were a legitimate military target.”

“The pro-Ukraine alliance should increase sanctions on Russia. Also put pressure on ‘neutrals’ to condemn. Remove Russia from the UN human rights executive,” Dr. Richard Simpson, an honorary professor at Scotland’s University of Stirling and an Order of the British Empire recipient, posted on X.

Update 10/5/23, 12:10 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and comment.

Russian Soldier admits military fakes videos to exaggerate success

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Russian Soldier admits military fakes videos to exaggerate success

Ukrainian military intelligence recently published audio of an alleged intercepted phone call in which a Russian soldier admits his unit stages videos so military authorities think they are achieving greater battlefield success.

On its Telegram channel on Sunday, Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (GUR) posted the audio of what it said was a phone call between a soldier who was believed to be talking from the front lines in Ukraine and his wife. Newsweek could not independently verify the audio or the claims made by the speaker.

GUR frequently posts audio of what it says are intercepted communications involving Russia’s forces. The calls typically serve as examples of low morale among Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s troops or paint Kremlin officials in a bad light. Last month, GUR shared audio of what is said was a Russian soldier admitting his country was behind June’s Kakhovka Dam explosion, which Putin had previously denied.

According to an English translation by the Kyiv Post of the recently spread audio, the soldier described being encouraged to fake videos to impress his superiors.

The call begins with the soldier’s wife talking about a video she saw on Kremlin-run state media of Russian forces reclaiming control of Robotyne, a village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast that Ukraine liberated last month. The soldier says he doesn’t believe what’s reported in the video and insinuates it’s fake like videos that he’s staged of battlefield scenes.

“I’ve also recorded bulls*** on the camera on my phone, showing that ‘we’re fighting f****** great, we hold the f****** defense so bravely,’ but it’s a play,” the soldier said, according to the Kyiv Post.

The Russian troop then reportedly gave an example of a video he made after a commander ordered him to stage scenes and use a popular 2005 Russian war film named The 9th Company as inspiration.

“I dressed everyone up, put them in positions, and I went f****** through the trenches, shouting how ‘f****** incredibly’ they all fought,” the soldier told his wife. “All the videos were sent somewhere up [to his superiors].”

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email for comment.

Moscow’s military has previously been accused of faking video scenes. In August, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank reported a Russian military blogger claimed his country’s military officials were instructing servicemen to “report false successes on their missions to please their commanders.”

According to the ISW, the blogger wrote soldiers had filmed their helicopter and artillery units “firing on the same, previously damaged Western-provided armored fighting vehicle from different angles and on different days and reported them as separate kills at least three times.”

Rampaging monkey "on the loose" in Indianapolis could be drunk

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Rampaging monkey "on the loose" in Indianapolis could be drunk

Authorities are searching for a monkey that is roaming around Indianapolis, after reports it was seen drinking beer.

Officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) were called to the Irongate neighborhood on the city’s east side on Wednesday.

The IMPD posted on social media on Wednesday evening that officers were assisting Animal Care Services with a monkey “on the loose” near the 500 block of Ironridge Court, south of E. Washington Street and S. Mitthoefer Road.

“There are reports of minor injuries from the monkey but we can’t confirm it is from bites,” the police department said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Officers arrived in the neighborhood at around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, but called off their search a couple of hours later, according to local news station WISH-TV.

One resident told police they saw the monkey drinking beer from a garbage can, the station reported.

In another post on X, police said the monkey, named Momo, was last seen in the 10000 block of Gate Dr.

“The exact time is not confirmed. Please do not approach him,” police added in the post.

It was not immediately clear where the monkey has escaped from.

A spokesperson for the police department told Newsweek early on Thursday that they did not have any further updates on the situation.

Newsweek has contacted Indianapolis Animal Care Services via email for further comment.

The incident comes weeks after parts of the Walt Disney World theme park in Florida were temporarily shuttered because of reports of a wild bear on the loose.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement that “in most cases, it is best for bears to be given space and to move along on their own, but given this situation, staff are working on capturing and relocating the bear.”

The agency added that bears were known to undertake broader searches for food in the fall as they prepare for hibernation.

“During the fall, bears are more active as they search for food to pack on fat reserves for the winter,” the wildlife commission statement said. “This particular bear was likely moving through the area searching for food.”

The bear, an adult female, was later captured by wildlife officers and taken to an area in or around the Ocala National Forest, north of Orlando.

Update 10/05/23, 7:45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information. Update 10/05/23, 9:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with background information and a new headline.

‘Wordle’ #838 hints, clues and answer for Thursday, October 5 puzzle

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‘Wordle’ #838 hints, clues and answer for Thursday, October 5 puzzle

It has been two years since Wordle was released to the public. It started out as a game created by New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle for his partner to play, but soon became a global sensation.

Millions logged on to solve the daily brainteaser and such was its popularity that the The New York Times purchased Wordle for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum in 2022. It remains free to play via the publication’s website and games app.

The premise is simple: one five-letter word per day and six attempts to guess it. If a letter is in the right place, a tile will go green. If it is in the wrong place, it turns yellow. If it is not in the word at all, the tile goes gray.

Wordle aficionados aim to guess the day’s word in as few tries as possible, and maintain a win streak.

In an interview with Newsweek, Erhan Aslan, an expert in applied linguistics who teaches at the University of Reading in the U.K., gave some advice on how to improve your chances of solving the daily puzzle.

“One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting letter chosen. Starting off with letters that include commonly used vowels, for example, e and a, consonants such as r and t, and sound sequences might be helpful,” Aslan said.

“Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j, or x, for instance, may not be the best choice. As you get more feedback after a few guesses, users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking.”

Note: The answer for today’s Wordle can be found at the bottom of this page, so scroll down Newsweek‘s tips and clues with caution to avoid revealing it if you want to work it out for yourself.

‘Wordle’ #838, Clues for Thursday, October 5

Newsweek has put together five clues to help you solve today’s Wordle puzzle.

Hint #1: The word can be a noun or a verb.

Hint #2: There are no repeated letters.

Hint #3: There is only one vowel, in the second letter.

Hint #4: Synonyms for today’s Wordle include “community” and “crowd.”

Hint #5: The word features in the name of a popular sitcom about a large blended family that originally aired in the U.S. from 1969 to 1974.

‘Wordle’ #838, Answer for Thursday, October 5

The answer to today’s Wordle is “bunch.”

Merriam-Webster defines “bunch” as a number of things of the same kind, a considerable amount, or if used as a verb, to form a group or cluster.

Wordle resets daily at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT). While you wait for the next game, you could give the geography guessing game Worldle or other word puzzles a try.

Outcry as Black history murals vandalized in Florida: ‘Intentional’

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Outcry as Black history murals vandalized in Florida: ‘Intentional’

Artworks celebrating Black history in a Florida park have been vandalized, sparking an outcry among Tampa residents.

Officers are investigating after several murals in Perry Harvey Park were damaged on Monday night, Tampa Police Department said in a news release.

The four works tell the story of the Black community and Tampa’s Central Avenue, once the main business and entertainment district for African Americans in the city. The murals were “made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts,” police said.

A nearby city kiosk was also damaged. The kiosk is one of 30 in Tampa, designed to help residents and visitors explore the city.

Video shared by the police department on social media shows a number of glass tiles on the murals have been smashed.

The local CBS affiliate, 10 Tampa Bay, reported that detectives have reviewed surveillance camera footage and are searching for one person they believe is responsible for the vandalism.

Major Eric Defelice told the TV station: “I don’t think there’s any motive behind it.”

But residents believe the damage was intentional.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is a hate crime. It was certainly intentional, perhaps done by more than one person,” Fred Hearns, a historian who works to preserve Tampa’s Black history, told the station.

“A hundred years ago, almost half the Black population of this city lived in this neighborhood. That’s why this area is so important.”

Hearns said he would contribute to a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Clearance Jones, who lives near the park, called the vandalism “heartbreaking.”

“We fought so hard for this,” Jones said. “It is very saddening. It is very sad and heartbreaking.”

It is reportedly the third time that the artworks in the park have been vandalized.

“The vandalism of this artwork is an insult to our community and to all those who contributed to its creation,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.

“It is disappointing to think anyone would cause destruction to this artistic representation of our city’s history. We are working to identify those responsible for this senseless act.”

The department said detectives would work with residents and local businesses to review any video of the incident that may have been captured.

Newsweek has contacted the Tampa Police Department for further comment via email.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Tampa Police Department at 813-231-6130, or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 800-873-TIPS.

US Army shrinks to smallest size since WW2 as it struggles to find recruits

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US Army shrinks to smallest size since WW2 as it struggles to find recruits

The size of the U.S. Army is reportedly the smallest since World War II as the service continues to struggle to recruit new soldiers.

Army officials announced on Tuesday that the service had recruited almost 55,000 recruits in the 2023 fiscal year, which ended Saturday, falling short of the publicly stated goal of 65,000. The number of new recruits allows the service to meet its required total strength of 452,000 active-duty soldiers.

But the independent news group Military Times says that this is the smallest the Army has been since 1940. There were just over 269,000 soldiers in 1940, but that number ballooned to almost 1.5 million in 1941, the year the U.S. entered the World War II, according to the National WWII Museum’s website.

On Tuesday, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Gen. Randy George, its chief of staff, said the service is launching a sweeping overhaul of its recruiting following years of struggling to meet enlistment goals. It fell short of its recruiting target by about 15,000 last year.

A new professional force of recruiters will be formed, instead of using soldiers who have been randomly assigned the job.

“We are going to start using an aptitude test to make sure that the folks that we bring into the recruiting workforce have the kind of skills and attributes to be successful in what is a pretty challenging responsibility,” Wormuth told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be a multi-year journey to get that in place, but we’re going to try to start moving down that road as rapidly as we can,” Wormuth added.

The Army has long relied heavily on high-school seniors and graduates to fill its ranks, but Wormuth said that pool is shrinking and the service needs to focus on people who are in college or job-hunting.

High-school graduates make up just 15 to 20 percent of the labor market, Wormuth added, and the Army gets about half of its recruits from that shrinking pool.

She wants a third of the Army’s recruits to possess more than a high-school diploma by 2028, she said. A fifth of recruits currently have more than a high-school education.

“The high-school market is still going to be very important to us,” Wormuth added. “But we’re going to formally assign our recruiters the responsibility to get a third of their new contracts from more than high-school graduates.”

Wormuth told reporters that the Army has not decided what the new fiscal year’s recruiting goal will be, but said it is likely to be fewer than 65,000 recruits.

The Navy and the Air Force also fell short of their recruitment targets in the 2023 fiscal year, The Associated Press reported, while the Marine Corps and the small Space Force said they would meet their enlistment targets.

Newsweek has contacted the Army for further comment via email.

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