Pentagon commends actions of Ukrainian army in protecting cities, civilians
Ukrainian forces — including civilians — are continuing to frustrate Russian invasion forces on the ground and in the air, a senior Pentagon official said on March 21 in a statement published on the U.S. Defense Department’s official website.
“It's very clear that the Ukrainians are showing no signs of stopping their resistance and no signs of slowing down their attacks on the Russians… Credit goes to the Ukrainians and the impressive way that they are defending their cities and their fellow citizens,” the official said.
According to the DoD representative, the Russian invaders have thus far only captured a handful of population centers, Kherson being the largest one. And even with Kherson in Russian hands, Ukrainian forces have launched a counterattack in an effort to take it back.
The official also praised the effective use of the U.S.-provided assistance and air defense systems by the Ukrainian armed forces.
The Russians suffer losses every day, the official said, including aircraft, armor, vehicles, artillery, helicopters, and fighter jets.
“We continue to see risk aversion by a lot of Russian pilots inside Ukrainian airspace,” he added.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has fired over 1,100 missiles at targets in Ukraine, according to the United States. The Russian army continues to subject Ukrainian cities to rocket and artillery fire.
Some Russian forces are reportedly experiencing morale issues. Russian soldiers simply were not fully prepared for operations of this intensity for such a long time on multiple lines of attack. They did not expect this level of resistance, according to the official.
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