Thread by @DanLamothe

A background briefing with a senior U.S. defense official for Monday about the war in Ukraine has concluded.

Some takeaways:

The Pentagon has seen evidence that Russia is trying to recruit Syrians to fight on their behalf in Ukraine, senior U.S. defense official says. That matches a @WSJ scoop from last night.

The Pentagon now assesses that nearly 100 percent of the Russian combat power prestaged at the Ukrainian border are now committed to the fight, a senior U.S. defense official says.

Russia has now launched more than 625 missiles at Ukraine since the invasion began, a senior U.S. defense official says Monday.

Airspace is still contested, as it has been, a Pentagon official says.

“We do continue to assess that President Zelensky has the vast majority of his fixed-wing aircraft available to him,” senior U.S. defense official says.

Pentagon says it will deploy an additional 500 U.S. troops from the U.S. to Europe in light of the crisis in Ukraine, senior defense official says. No combat troops -- refueling, air ops center, etc.

The Pentagon does not seen any indications of additional Russian forces moving toward Ukraine, senior U.S. defense official says.

U.S. officials also do not see Belarusian forces moving to join the fight, senior U.S. defense official says.

Bombardments continue in multiple locations in Ukraine, something the Pentagon believes could be coming in part because of their failures to maneuver on the ground.

"It appears as though the Russians are increasing their use of long-range fires to supplement or make up for the lack of ground movement that they have had, and the lack of air superiority that they enjoy," senior U.S. defense official says.

Pentagon "cannot assess with specificity" whether Russia is deliberately targeting civilians, senior U.S. defense official says.

That said, civilian areas are definitely being hit more frequently, highlighting the "reckless nature" of current Russians operations, official says.