A senior U.S. defense official briefed reporters on the Pentagon’s latest assessments of the Russian war Ukraine —Here are some of the highlights:
Russian cruise missiles suffer high failure rates
Russia is experiencing high failure rates of cruise missiles at launch, ranging from “20% to 60%,” a senior defense official said this week, citing U.S. assessments.
In many cases, the official noted, air-launched cruise missiles simply do not get off the rails of the plane trying to fire them. Currently, Russian planes make about 300 departures a day.
In addition, Russian forces appear to be down in air-launched cruise missiles and may be trying to conserve those missiles, the official said. Although they still have about 50% of their reserves left, declining stocks of precision-guided missiles are a factor in the growing use of mute bombs. Russia’s assault on Ukraine, now in its 30th day, has fired 1,260 missiles, according to the official.
Russian troops are no longer moving to Kyiv
Russia does not appear to be pursuing a ground crime against Kyiv at the moment, although the capital continues to be hit by missiles and artillery fire. Russian troops are no longer moving to Kyiv and there has been no movement from the north or northwest. They also remain in the positions they had in the east and continue digging in defensive positions.
U.S. defense officials say the Donbass region is now the Kremlin’s top priority, but it is still too early to determine whether Russia has begun to limit its targets, perhaps trying to divide that part of the country.
As Russian combat power on the ground declines, it is now estimated to be between 85 and 90 percent of what it was a month ago, with a small number of troops, tanks, military vehicles and aircraft. they are seeing the first signs that Russian troops are moving from Georgia.
Ukraine attacks a Russian refueling ship
The Department of Defense confirmed that Ukrainian forces attacked Russian military supply ship Orsk while docked at the port of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine. Just a couple of days earlier, Russian state media had shown a video of the military landing ship unloading armored vehicles and tanks at the port, which had been taken over by Russia. Based on the available images, officials believe that Ukraine destroyed the ship.
The most intense fighting continues in Mariupol, Donbass, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv. Defense officials have seen reports that the Ukrainians are expelling the Russians from Mykolaiv and Chernihiv, and there has been significant Ukrainian resistance in Kherson, which is no longer as firmly under Russian control as it was.
There has been no confirmation of Ukraine’s assertion that Russia has used phosphorus or thermobaric weapons.
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