DOD: Putin, attacking a lesser power, is responsible for every lost “Soul” in Ukraine?

DOD: Any great power that attacks a smaller country, has blood on its hands???

The first feature below is one of the most hypocritical statements coming from the U.S. great country that not only provoked this war, but launched the Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syrian, wars where hundreds of thousands of innocent died died. Bush, Obama, Biden, have no blood on their hands of U. S. troops, locals killed as they project the blame after having attacked countries with far inferior military capabilities?

Lost Souls? The world, including Ukraine officials mock the sanctimonious duplicity, open up a can of worms.

DOD: In Ukraine, Every Lost Soul is on Putin  

FEB. 28, 2022 | BY C. TODD LOPEZ, DOD NEWS

Since Russian military forces illegally invaded Ukraine last week, Ukrainian civilians and soldiers, as well as Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict. Estimates are in the thousands. 

Every one of those deaths is directly attributable to Russian president Vladimir Putin, said Pentagon

Press Secretary John F. Kirby. 

“He’s perpetrating violence on a neighboring nation state that presented no threat to him, and innocent lives are being … taken. And we’ve seen casualties … we know there’s casualties on both sides of this conflict. All of this … was avoidable,” Kirby said during a briefing today at the Pentagon. “This is a war of choice … and all the casualties are on his hands — all the blood is on Mr. Putin’s hands.”  

In furtherance of Russia’s illegal war, a convoy of Russian military forces, by some estimates as long as 17 miles, continues to move towards the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.  

“I think the main conclusion we can draw … is that … they continue to want to move on Kyiv, to capture Kyiv, to take Kyiv,” Kirby said. “Although we don’t know everything about this convoy, it is certainly in keeping with what we believe to be their intent, with respect to the capital city.”  

How the Russians plan to capture Kyiv once the convoy reaches its destination, Kirby said, is unknown right now.  

“Whether it’s encirclement, or bombardment, or street-to-street fighting, I mean, I just don’t think we have that level of dexterity now to give you that kind of detail in terms of Russian planning,” he said.  

The Ukrainian military has so far provided a “stiff and determined resistance” in defense of their country which has appeared to slow Russian plans there, Kirby said.  

And the U.S. military, along with other nations have continued to provide security assistance packages to Ukraine to help them defend their country.  

On Saturday, Kirby said President Biden had authorized an additional $350 million of military assistance to Ukraine from Defense Department inventories. Included there are anti-armor, small arms and various munitions, body armor and other related equipment.  

“We know that the Ukrainian armed forces are using a lot of the systems and equipment that had been provided to them not just by the United States, but by other nations,” Kirby said. “The Ukrainians have been effective at using these weapons and these systems, and … at resisting and pushing back Russian forces.”  

Kirby said while it’s not possible to know exactly what the Russian war plan is for Ukraine, it’s believed that their plans may have been delayed so far by a few days as a result of unexpected resistance by the Ukrainian military. Nevertheless, he said, he recommends caution right now in assessing the situation in Ukraine, especially when it relates to drawing conclusions about Russian military plans, efforts or capabilities, just days into an illegal war.  

“This is a dynamic situation. It’s war, and war can be unpredictable,” he said. “And I don’t think that anybody, including, perhaps especially Ukrainians, are sniffing at Russian capabilities that they’re facing.”

Ukrainians Continue Resistance as Russia Funnels More Troops Into the Country  

FEB. 28, 2022 | BY JIM GARAMONE, DOD NEWS

DOD officials estimate that almost 75 percent of the forces that Russian President Vladimir Putin amassed for invasion are now in Ukraine. 

A senior defense official also said the United States has not seen anything specific as a result of Putin putting Russian nuclear deterrence forces on high alert. The official, speaking on background, said DOD will continue to monitor the situation. There is no change to U.S. nuclear defense posture, he said. “We remain comfortable and confident in our own strategic deterrence posture,” he said.  

Before the invasion five days ago, officials estimated that Russia had more than 160,000 troops along its borders with Ukraine and inside Belarus, also along the border with Ukraine. If the estimate of 75 percent is correct, then 120,000 Russian troops are taking part in the invasion.  

Ukrainians continue their David vs. Goliath battle against the Russian invaders. The official said that Russia has, thus far, failed to achieve air superiority over Ukraine. “The airspace over Ukraine remains contested,” he said. “Ukrainian air defenses remain intact and viable, both in terms of aircraft and missile defense systems, and they’re engaged.”  

Ukrainian ground forces have slowed the Russian advance on the capital city of Kyiv and Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv. Still, Russian forces are roughly 25 kilometers out of Kyiv. The official said this appears to be the Russian’s main line of effort.  

There have been roughly 380 ballistic and cruise missile launches against Ukraine, the official said.  

Despite news reports, U.S. officials have seen no indications that Belarussian troops are being readied to move into Ukraine. “Our best information is that the forces inside Ukraine are all Russians,” the senior official said.  

The Ukrainian resistance and Russian military problems with logistics and sustainment have combined to slow the Russian invasion. “Our indications are that they ended up having to rely on fuel and sustainment capabilities earlier in the process than what we believe they had planned to,” the official said. “So, on day four, they’re running out of gas, and they’re having logistics problems.”  

Added to this is Ukrainian resistance, including disabling a major bridge, which has worked in Ukraine’s favor.  

Russia seems to be trying to encircle Kharkiv and Kyiv. Kharkiv is the scene of heavy fighting. Russian units have not taken the city but appear intent on encircling it.  

The same tactic appears to be in play in Kyiv. “We believe that they want to be able to approach Kyiv from multiple directions and put pressure on Ukrainian defenses, all around Kyiv,” the official said.  

The official said Ukrainians have proven “very creative in how they are … resisting.”  

“We talked about the combined arms capabilities of the Russians,” the official said. “The Ukrainians have proved pretty effective with their own combined arms approach. … It varies from place to place based on where the Ukrainians are, and how fast they can get there and what they have at their disposal, but they are using pretty much everything that they have in their arsenal from small arms all the way up to surface-to-air missiles to try to slow down the Russians.”