Ukraine’s intercept claim created buzz within the Pentagon late last week, the source added, noting it is significant for several reasons. Ukraine’s intercept has now provided a real-world demonstration of that capability - something that has been viewed within the Pentagon as a major development, the source said. While the Patriot system has been successful in countering ballistic missiles, its ability to stop air-launched hypersonic missiles was purely theoretical before last week. The US has high confidence in the accuracy of Ukraine’s claim that it used an American-made Patriot air defense system to intercept a Russian hypersonic missile, according to a source familiar with the matter. Bernd Wüstneck/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images/FILE The Russian president will also see what the Ukrainian commanders see: Prigozhin is gathering acolytes in the military high command, this weekend hiring the ex-deputy defense minister, who was fired by the Kremlin last week, to be one of his own deputies.įor Ukrainians, though, it’s what happens in Bakhmut that counts the most, not Kremlin backstabbing, although they say any chaos in Moscow is always welcome news.Ī Patriot air defense system, pictured in Germany in January. It’s the way Putin has remained in power so long, playing one minister, commander or oligarch off against the next. Little surprise Putin’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is playing along, too, vowing ammunition for the fight. This is confirmation for Ukraine’s military that Prigozhin wouldn’t dare give up on what his boss Putin wants: to be able to call Bakhmut his by the time he stands on Red Square for Russia’s annual Victory Day Parade on Tuesday. They say he’s reaching that limit now.īut for now, rather than pull out and cede hard-gained ground, much coveted by Putin, Prigozhin is cooking up a plan to have Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s troops step where his dead soldiers stood. Months ago, Ukraine’s military said if he kept losing fighters at an estimated rate of 100 or so a day, he’d burn through Wagner’s deep reserve of convicts and other mercenary fighters. Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency released video they said shows Bakhmut illuminated by fires ignited by incendiary rockets. In towns nearby, then and since, the still night air carries the near constant sound of heavy shells "crumping" in to trench and tree. The night after Prigozhin claimed to be short of ammunition, Russia massively upped its artillery barrage on Bakhmut, raining down 25,000 shells, up from the average of 20,000, according to the Ukrainian military. Kyiv’s assessment is that he is insulating his long-time benefactor, the man who transformed him from a catering boss to a billionaire mercenary, from the repercussions of military failure in Ukraine. On Friday, he threatened to pull his troops out, blaming Putin’s defense chiefs for leaving his fighters short of ammunition. Should Putin’s war blow up in his face, Prigozhin has told Russians who they should blame. Whatever he says about Bakhmut should be understood in that context. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin serves one master, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “They are trying to evacuate the people to the places where they set up their own defense lines and where they are setting their units in order to use local civilians as a cover,” Humeniuk claimed.Īnalysts suspect the southern region could be a key target of Ukraine's anticipated counteroffensive. This is a standard practice that was used by Russians before, she said. Russians are trying “to test and find out where the air defense systems are located,” according to Humeniuk.Įvacuations in southern Ukraine: The spokesperson also commented on Russian authorities recently evacuating civilians from the Zaporizhzhia region, calling it “an imitation of care for the local residents.” And they are also expanding their tactics, because they do not have a stable stock of the means that they can operate with,” said Natalia Humeniuk, Ukraine’s Operational Command South spokesperson. “They (Russian forces) are testing and trying to exhaust our air defense system.
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