The Department of Defense sign, before Incoming Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III arrives at the Pentagon after being confirmed as secretary of defense, Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2021. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
WASHINGTON DC – PENTAGON – Russian forces invading Ukraine are suffering “low morale” that could affect the outcome of the battle there, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said. The Pentagon has indications that morale is a growing problem inside the Russian forces that are fighting in Ukraine, Kirby told reporters during a press briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday. Kirby noted how important morale is to military effectiveness and cohesion.
“And as time goes on, and they continue to fail to achieve the progress on the ground that they want to achieve, we’ve seen increasing indications that morale and unit cohesion is a problem. And yes, that absolutely translates into potential military effectiveness issues. I don’t want to get into too many diagnostics here on a day to day basis of how they’re doing. I think I, you know, went through a whole litany of things we know that they have struggled with. Clearly morale at the unit level, but anecdotally, we have indications that yeah, that’s a problem.”
-Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby
Photo by Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times / Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby briefs reporters on the Russia-Ukraine situation at the Pentagon in Washington DC Mar. 22, 2022.
According to Kirby, reports out of Ukraine indicate a breakdown in some units stemming from logistics and sustainment issues. “We continue to see indications that the Russians did not properly plan for logistics and sustainment,” Kirby said. “We know that they continue to have fuel issues across their force, and that they’re still struggling with food.” He noted that there is footage of Russian troops ransacking grocery stores in Ukraine. The Russians “either didn’t properly plan for logistics and sustainment or they didn’t properly execute to their plan, but they are still having problems,” he said.
Ukrainians Report High mortality rate of Russia Generals through month-long Conflict
A reporter asked the Pentagon Press Secretary to comment on reports of “high mortality rate” of supposedly five Russia generals killed through the month-old military campaign, noting that by comparison, the U.S. sustained one general officer loss after 20 years in Afghanistan.
KIRBY: “Yes, we can’t verify those numbers, Mike. I mean, we’ve seen them. And I know the Ukrainians have reported the number I think the Russians…Its – I mean, again, you have to assume that they’ve lost all those generals, and we’re not in a position to independently verify that. The Russian military is not organized the way we are, you know, they don’t really have a Noncommissioned Officer Corps. They — so — and they’ve been struggling. So, it’s not out of the realm of the possible that more generals are more in the field. But I just can’t verify the numbers of how many they’re losing.”
DIPLOMATIC TIMES VIDEO Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby briefs reporters on the Russia-Ukraine situation at the Pentagon in Washington DC Mar. 22, 2022.
Ukrainians Going More on the Offense against Russia Military: Pentagon
There have been some news reports that a suburb around Kyiv has been retaken by the Ukrainians, but the Pentagon is unable to confirm.
“…we’re not in a position to confirm that, that suburb around Kyiv has been retaken by the Ukrainians. What I would tell you is though that we have seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offense now. They have been defending very smartly, very nimbly, very creatively in places that they believe are the right places to defend. And we have seen them now in places, particularly in the south, near Kherson. They have tried to regain territory. Again, we don’t have great fidelity of tactical movements. But we have seen them make these efforts. – Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby
