"Russia's continuing their offensive in the northern #Donbas...but no major shift in territorial control by either side" per senior US defense official
"We continue to see the #Ukrainians continue to claw back territory north and northeast of #Kharkiv" per senior US defense official
"Weather's been an issue over eastern & southern #Ukraine" impacting #Russian naval & air ops, per senior US defense official
But #Russia also pulled back dramatically number of airstrikes around #Mariupol
#Russia|n airstrikes ongoing in/around #Kharkiv & in the #Donbas, per senior US defense official
"We have seen indications where #Russia|n commanders at various levels have been relieved of their duties" - but nothing about "senior, senior levels" per senior US defense official
"We're not seeing any mobilization efforts of a mass scale" by #Russia, per senior US defense official
Says Russia still has 106 BTGs [Battalion Tactical Groups] in #Ukraine, but some currently in the #Donbas "not at 100%"
"Some are in relatively good shape" official adds
"They [#Russia] continue to experience casualties every single day... They continue to experience readiness issues bcs it is a very active fight" per senior US defense official
"We still see...unit cohesion issues, morale issues"
#Russia - "They have not fixed all their issues. They are continuing to meet a very stiff & very nimble #Ukrainian resistance" per senior US defense official
"They are in a very intimate fight w/the Ukrainians...this is a knife fight"
"It is difficult to know where this is going to go" per senior US defense official on how war between #Russia & #Ukraine wil progress
Wrans Russia "still have a numerical advantage...a lot more military capability available to them"
"This could be a prolonged fight" per senior US defense official, noting fighting in the #Donbas has been going on already for years
#Russia's strategy in the #Donbas of going after smaller, more modest objectives - "sometimes those objectives are only maintained for a short period of time before the Ukrainians take them back" per senior US defense official
Per senior US defense official, #Russia turning to smaller objectives, use of smaller forces in #Donbas could be result of ongoing higher-level difficulties w/command & control
#Lyman in northern #Donbas - fighting continues, w/#Russia|n forces eyeing possible move on #Sloviansk, per senior US defense official
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
"We're constantly monitoring the threat environment w/escalation management clearly in mind" per @PentagonPresSec on US aid to #Ukraine "it would be irresponsible if we didn't do that"
"As we work these pkgs, these weapons & systems that we're sending to #Ukraine...we're doing it mostly with an eye towards what does Ukraine need in the fight that they're in right now" per @PentagonPresSec
"The consistent answer that we get back is they need long range fires"
"Our focus is on making sure that we can advantage #Ukraine on the battlefield & therefore hopefully advantage them when it comes to an ultimate peace there" per @PentagonPresSec
...this despite Russian claims its used a new generation of lasers to counter drones
US assesses #Russia is behind where it wants to be as far as progress in the #Donbas, w/Russian progress slow, uneven, per @PentagonPresSec
Says every day there are "hamlets towns and villages that are changing hands" between Russia & #Ukraine
US @SecDef Lloyd Austin to virtually host meeting of the #Ukraine Contact Group this coming Monday - more than 40 nations expected to take part, per @PentagonPresSec
"The gvt of #Russia views the US as its primary adversary..." Kurtis Ronnow, deputy asst dir for of the @FBI's Counterintelligence Division, tells @USChamber during virtual briefing on #cyber
"#Russia's malign influence efforts are ongoing" & involve #cyber, other means, per @FBI's Ronnow
US officials "remain concerned" #Russian cyber criminals will target US businesses, critical infrastructure in support of #Russia's ops in #Ukraine, Mike Herrington, section chief of the @FBI's Cyber Division tells @USChamber
ICYMI: #Britain's @DefenceHQ says #Russia "has fired senior commanders who are considered to have performed poorly during the opening stages of its invasion of #Ukraine"
Pentagon downplays #Taliban efforts to build its own air force
"The relatively small number of former AAF aircraft believed to be in operational condition does not pose a capable military threat to regional stability outside #Afghanistan" per @DeptofDefense spox Maj Rob Lodewick
"With the exception of a pair of #Blackhawk helicopters, the former AAF aircraft that have been seen flying in #Afghanistan are old legacy aircraft that DoD did not provide nor previously sustain" per @DeptofDefense spox Maj Rob Lodewick in response to question from @VOANews
"The #Taliban will likely continue to focus the use of its limited air assets against anti-Taliban threats within #Afghanistan" per @DeptofDefense's Maj Lodewick
#Russia|n progress overall "fairly limited...a few kilometers maybe every day" per a senior US defense official
#Russia|n military offensives becoming smaller, more localized - US seeing "a shrinking of their offensives & their goals...using smaller units" per a senior US defense official