US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said publicly for the first time that the United States is providing information to Ukrainian forces to conduct operations in the Donbas region. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Austin was asked if the United States had provided information to help Ukraine carry out attacks against Russian forces in the occupied Donbass region or in occupied Crimea. “We provide them with… information on conducting such operations… in Donbass. That’s right, “said Austin, responding to a question from Sen. Tom Cotton. Austin did not mention Crimea in his response. He also said that the United States does not discourage Ukraine from launching attacks against Russian forces in these areas. Why it matters: This is the first time a US official has publicly acknowledged the US role in Ukrainian operations in the disputed area as fighting moves away from the capital, Kiev, into southeastern Ukraine. “We continue to provide useful information and information to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their struggle,” a senior defense official told CNN on Thursday following Austin’s comments. “As this struggle migrates more to the Donbas area, we will adjust the content and flow of our information as required.” Austin then told the hearing that the Pentagon would send “updated guidance” today, but did not explicitly say what the guidance would entail. Cotton asked if the current guidance is not to provide such information to Ukraine. “Certainly the current guidance was not clear in this regard, so we will make sure it is clear,” Austin replied. Earlier this month, the White House acknowledged that the United States had sent “significant amounts of detailed, timely information” to Ukraine about Russia’s plans and actions.
title: “Kremlin Spokesperson Admits To Significant Russian Troop Losses In Ukraine " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Donna Flipp”
The video – which was first verified by the New York Times – shows a group of soldiers with Ukrainian patches and blue arms on a street after a battle. The bodies of at least four men in Russian uniform are on the sidewalk. Three of them have head injuries and blood has pooled around the body of a quarter, who has a jacket pulled over his head and appears to be trembling. “He is still alive,” one man said in Russian. “Breathe.” A soldier points a rifle and fires two shots at the body, stops and then fires another. The body stops moving. A man narrated on camera then turns to film a Russian infantry fighting vehicle with the “V” mark similar to that seen on Russian military equipment used by many units in Ukraine. “A little trophy,” says the man. Someone off-camera says, “Slava Ukrayini!” – Glory to Ukraine, a patriotic greeting, and a bearded man enters the frame and answers, “Glory to the heroes”, the standard answer. The exact time and date of the video, which appeared on the pro-Russian Telegram channel, is unclear. The location of the video matches that of a video posted on Twitter by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. This video, released on April 2, shows a Russian armored column being blown up. “Craft work of Ukrainian defenders in the Kiev region,” the caption reads. Read more:
