Out of a background briefing this morning with a senior U.S. defense official. Notable updates about the war in Ukraine:
A couple things going on here. First, Russia is getting more resistance that it expected, senior defense official says. He cites resistance around Kyiv in particular.
Russia also has not established air superiority over Ukraine, as U.S. officials had predicted was likely before this invasion began. Instead, the air space is contested, with some Ukrainian air defenses (surface-to-air missiles) still available and Ukrainian jets flying sorties.
That said, things could change quickly. The same senior defense official noted that a Russian amphibious assault is underway west of the port city of Mariupol. It could feasibly put thousands of Russian naval forces ashore.
Senior defense official said that about a third of the combat power Russia built up has now been committed to the fight in Ukraine. He wouldn't provide numbers, but with estimates of at least Russian 150,000 troops at the border ahead of time, that would amount to more than 50K.
Senior official says that western Ukraine, which is solidly pro-West, has been largely untouched militarily. That, of course, also is of now.
Russian has now launched more than 200 missiles at Ukraine, including both ballistic and cruise weapons. That's up from a Pentagon estimate of 160 yesterday afternoon.
Those missiles are hitting military targets, but not exclusively. Senior U.S. defense official said they are aware of some missiles landing in residential areas. It's not clear from here whether that was deliberate or incompetent.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
