Defense Department Seeing Little Activity In Ukraine As Russians Are Concerned About Longevity

Ukraine soldiers conduct marksmanship training and small unit tactics during Rapid Trident 2019, Sept. 21, 2019, near Yavoriv, Ukraine. RT19 is an annual, multinational exercise, which involves approximately 3,700 personnel from 14 nations, that supports joint combined interoperability among the partner militaries of Ukraine and the United States, as well as Partnership for Peace nations and NATO allies. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Amanda H. Johnson.)

By Yvette Gould –

A senior Defense Department official on Wednesday said there had been little activity in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the last 24 hours. The official said “We have observed naval activity in the north Black Sea off the coast of Odesa, but no shelling over the course of the last 24 hours that we observed.”

The official confirmed “Ukrainians are putting a lot of effort into defending Kyiv as you would expect them to do. Ukrainians are the reason why haven’t been able to move forward. And it’s because they’re very actively resisting any movement by the Russians.”.

Defense Department says “The United States is continuing to work with its allies and partners on the possibility of helping Ukraine with long-range air defense systems and other systems the Ukrainians are trained on, in addition to helping them face artillery bombardment, the official said. “It’s us talking to individual nations who might be able to have these capabilities and to provide them,” he added.

The official said DOD “absolutely thinks” that while the Russians still have the majority of their combat power available, they’re talking about resupply and resourcing and revealed that they are beginning to get concerned about longevity.