вчерашний брифинг амер. минобороныDay 42 -- more than 1,450 missile launches. We would assess that Russian forces near Kyiv and Chernihiv have completed their withdrawal from the area to re-consolidate and refit in Belarus and in Russia. We are not showing Russian forces in or around Kyiv or to the north Kyiv, and we're not showing Russian forces in or around Chernihiv.
No real changes to speak to in east or the south of Ukraine. Mariupol remains isolated, but it has not been secured by the Russian despite some open-source reporting to the contrary of Ukrainians surrendering Mariupol. We do not assess that that has happened.
42-й день - больше 1450 русских ракет. Мы видим, что рашисты полностью вышли из-под Киева и Чернигова, вышли в беларусь заправляться. Никого не осталось под Киевом и под Черниговым.
На востоке и юге мало изменений. Мариуполь в блокаде, но они его ещё не победили, несмотря на всё враньё.
No changes in the air or the maritime environment. I know all of you are going to ask me about reinforcements. Again, we have now seen that the Russians have moved from the north into Belarus and to Russia for refit and resupply. We have seen indications that that refit and resupply is occurring, but I don't have anything to report with respect to a redeployment of those units into Ukraine. You'll probably ask me, how many units are we talking about? And you know, in the northwestern grouping, again, we're talking about around 20 BTGs, and that north-central grouping, which is the -- folks are kind of coming out of that Chernihiv or to the area to the northeast of Kyiv. You're talking around the same number, roughly 20. We don't have perfect knowledge of their manpower, but roughly 20 BTGs in each of those two grouping areas, and so we assess that they are now outside of Ukraine
Of the total, like 100 and -- almost -- nearly 130 BTGs that they applied to this invasion, we still assess that they have, you know, a good many inside, you know, more than 80. So again, we don't have a perfect picture of every single unit, but that's roughly what we see.
нет изменений в воздухе и на море. Вы конечно хотите спросить про подкрепление. Мы видим, что рашисты ушли на север подкрепляться, мы видим, что они подкрепляются, но мы не видим, что они начали заходить назад в Украину. Вы наверно хотите спросить, сколько там юнитов. Северозападная группировка наверно была где-то 20 БТГ, северо-центральная (Чернигов) наверно тоже где-то 20. Вот они вышли.
А всего они изначально заслали наверно 130 БТГ, то есть, понимаете, больше 80 там ещё осталось внутри в Украине.
Some of you are going to ask me about the nitric acid attack. I would just tell you that we're still monitoring that. We can't confirm the specific details of it. You know, we've seen the Russians claim that this was a Ukrainian attack on this. We do not believe that is true. We do believe that the Russians are responsible, but exactly what they used, when they did it, why they did it, what the damage is, we just don't have that level of detail, so I'm just going to rip that Band-Aid off before we even get to it in Q&A. We're still monitoring it.
вы наверно хотите спросить про атаку азотной кислотой. Мы всё ещё разбираемся в этом. Не может подтвердить детали. Мы видели, рашисты гонят, что это украинцы, мы конечно не верим. Конечно это рашисты, но что конкретно они делали, когда, почему, какой ущерб, мы не знаем, мы мониторим.
Q: Thank you. Two things: one, there's been a lot of talk from you all over the last several days about what is expected to be a larger effort to go back into sort of the east, and we're already hearing reports of Russian troops more flowing into the east. Can you give us what you can of that picture, what you're seeing, and how long do you estimate it may be before? I know you can't paint a perfect picture here, but how long it might be before you see some of these troops in Belarus and Russia moving back toward the east.
And then secondly, just the atrocities in Bucha that has -- you've addressed before. Is there any intelligence or any suggestion that this was part of a message from Russian troops to -- to frighten people in the rest of the country, or is there an assessment that this was just, you know, fleeing Russian forces just frantic and trying to get away?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Well, on -- on your first question, Lita, again, we've seen indications that they are beginning to refit and resupply these units. We have not seen those units be redeployed. I couldn't possibly estimate what the timeframe would be.
Our assessment is that they won't want to spend too much time on refit and resupply because they have made a very public show of saying that they're going to, you know, prioritize their efforts on the Donbas region.
So they're out there publicly with that this is their new focus area. So our understanding is that, you know, they would not take a lot of time but exactly how many days, it's difficult to know. I think it's going to depend, quite frankly, Lita, on the -- on the units themselves -- how depleted are they, in terms of stocks and supplies and manpower?
But we have not seen an appreciable, tangible influx of additional personnel or resources applied on the ground any way into the Donbas. You know, all told, you know, we think that they probably have -- I mean, well, it's -- it's difficult to know with any certainty but the vast majority of the battalion tactical groups that they have dedicated to that region are in and are in the region. You know, more than 30 I think is a safe assumption.
But we don't have -- I just don't have that level of fidelity on actual units and how many they have -- we don't have anything that says that they're -- that -- of these units they've moved out, that they've moved them in. We have seen none of that yet.
And I know -- I get this question all of the time about reinforcements. Again, we've seen the Wagner Group in there, we have seen them prioritize their airstrikes more and more on the JFO and south of Izyum. That is true but I just don't have anything more for you on physical reinforcements.
We'll watch it as best we can, and when we feel like we can share that with you, we will. I mean, just like I did today. That honestly as far as we can go because it's as far as we know.
- много было разговоров, что рашисты собираются приняться за восток, и мы получаем сообщения, что рашисты туда уже пошли. Что вы видите? И когда _оно_ начнётся?
И про зверства в Буче. У вас есть какие-н. шпионские данные, что это было вообще, это русские хотят послать какой-то мессидж? запугать народ? Или просто солдатня при побеге озверела?
- Мы видим, что они начали подкрепляться, но пока не видим, что их подкрепили и отправляют назад. Я не могу оценить, когда это начнётся.
Мы думаем, что долго ждать они не будут, [9 мая близко]. Но сколько дней? неизвестно. И это зависит, честно говоря, насколько побитые эти БТГ.
Но мы пока не видим серьёзного потока подкрепления на Донбас. Хотя вообще-то там уже немало. Там наверно 30 БТГ изначально было.
Постоянно спрашивают про подкрепление. Мы знаем, что там группа вагнера, и мы видим, что они больше бомбят восток и Изюм. Но у меня нет инфо про подкрепление. Мы уж смотрим, как можем.
On the Bucha thing, it -- the truth is, Lita, I don't think we know. That's why we think these war crimes need to be investigated and that Russia needs to be held accountable. But we don't have investigators on the ground so we can't -- and we weren't there, obviously, when these atrocities occurred, so it's difficult for us to know how much of this was pre -- you know, was -- well, let me back up -- it's just difficult for us to know the -- what precipitated these atrocities.
I would just tell you, I mean, it -- just looking at the imagery, when you see individuals with their hands tied behind their backs and evidence of being shot in the head, that certainly appears to be premeditated, appears to be planned, it certainly appears to be very, very deliberate and it's -- but it's difficult to know, you know, what more motivation was behind this.
It -- whether it was a message attempt or not, clearly, a message was sent to the world of Russia's brutality, and that's the message that should not be forgotten here. And clearly, we've seen no lack of motivation as a result of these atrocities by the Ukrainian forces in defending their country.
The other thing I'd say is while Bucha certainly and rightly has captured the world's attention, it's not the first time in these last 41 days or 42 days of conflict where the Russians have been committing war crimes and it's not the first example of brutality, as brutal as it is. So I think we just need to keep that perspective.
Что касется Бучи, мы не знаем. Поэтому надо всё расследовать и привлечь рашу. Но у нас нет своих следователей там, мы не знаем, что вызвало эти зверства.
Я просто скажу, ну вот глядя на фото, когда ты видешь убитых со связанными руками, явно это преднамеренно и запланировано, но откуда знать, какая у уродов была мотивация.
А что до послать мессидж, раша конечно послала так послала, всему миру, про свои скрепы, и мы этого не забудем. И мотивации у украинцев защищать страну точно не убавилось.
И хотя Буча конечно привлекла внимание мира, это не первый раз за эти 42 дня войны, когда раша явно совершила военные преступления, и не первый пример их зверства, хотя и пример ужасный.
Q: Hi, thank you. So I was just wondering if you could go into any detail about what you're seeing about how this pivot is happening to the east? Are the Russians running into any sort of logistical challenges as they try to move over to that new sphere?
And also, for the Ukrainians, I mean, obviously they don't have to go up and around the country, but how -- are you seeing that they are able to, kind of, recalibrate, reorient themselves, or is this potentially going to be like a -- a rocky road to do so?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: No, I mean, they've been recalibrating themselves since the beginning. But, certainly, you know, as we've talked about the -- I don't even remember when -- but, you know, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the north around Kyiv wasn't a relaxing stroll in the park for these guys. The Ukrainians were hitting them as they were moving away. So they were adapting in real time to Russian decision-making and taking full advantage of it, and further depleting these units as they were leaving the country.
- интересно, как там русские чувствуют себя на востоке, нет ли у них опять каких-н приятных логистических проблем.
И украинцы - им конечно не надо кругом обходить, но вообще как у них дела, смогут ли они перекалиброваться и переориентироваться?
- украинцы прекрасно перекалибруются с самого начала. И между прочим рашисткое отступление не было для рашистов прогулочкой. Украинцы их в жопу били. Так что они быстро адаптируются к рашистам и их переменам настроений.
They still have a lot of forces dedicated to the east, as they have over the last eight years. Again, I don't want to give their force dispositions here. But they have a lot of capability assembled there in the east and then in Donbas. And they are absolutely adapting and adjusting in real time to Russian efforts now to increase their activities there.
Again, we haven't seen wholesale additions and reinforcements in the east come in. So I can't speak to something specific that the Ukrainians have done to deal with an influx of Russian personnel. We just haven't seen that happen. What we're seeing happen right now is that the Russians are refitting and resupplying these units. And we haven't seen them redeployed back into Ukraine yet.
But the Ukrainians are -- you know, they're not waiting. I mean, they are already adapting to increased Russian activity in the Donbas region and doing the best they can.
I think one of the reasons why you saw us describe this $100 million drawdown package last night as an urgent need for Javelins was in fact because of the activity in the Donbas and the Ukrainians wanted to make sure that they're ready for increased Russian activity there.
у украицев много военных, предназначенных для востока, как и восемь лет подряд. Я не буду вам рассказывать, где они расположились. Но у них много на востоке и на Донбасе. И они адаптируются и подстраваются в реальном времени.
Мы не видели, чтобы туда сейчас шла добавка от русских. Поэтому я не могу сказать, что украинцы с этим делают. Русские пока туда не идут
Но украинцы не сидят сложа руки.
Вы наверно видели, что у нас срочный запрос на джевелины на 100 мильёнов? ну потому что украинцы готовятся
Q: Thanks for taking my question. The Mariupol City Council warned earlier today that Russian troops are now using mobile crematoriums to get rid of bodies, and their implication was that they're doing this to hide alleged war crimes. So it begs the question, has the U.S. seen any indication of the use of mobile crematoriums in Mariupol or any other part of Russia?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: No, not that we can confirm, no.
- мэр Мариуполя сказал, что русские запустили мобильные крематории, чтобы избавиться от тел, чтобы спрятать свои преступления. США видели мобильные крематории в Мариуполе или где-то в раше?
- не видели
Q: Thanks. My question has to do with training in the U.S. of Ukrainian forces. Secretary Austin was asked about this and weighed in twice yesterday during the hearing. And I'm just curious where is that training taking place, what's the nature of it, what was he referring to?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Well, what they were referring to was a very small number of Ukrainians that were already here in the United States going through some professional military education, a very small number, and we took advantage of the opportunity to pull them aside for a couple of days and provide them some training, particularly on the Switchblade UAVs. That is a system that is not organic to the Ukrainian military, and so although it's not a very difficult system to operate, we took the advantage of having them in the country to give them some rudimentary training on that. And there may be some additional rudimentary training while they're here that we may avail ourselves of while they're here.
I'm not going to get into specific locations or what all those systems are going to be but again, they were already here for professional military education, a small number, less than a dozen, and we took advantage of it. And our expectation is that these individuals will be heading back into Ukraine relatively soon, as they were originally anyway.
- Остин сказал, что США проводит какой-то тренинг для украинских военных. Интересно, где он проходит, и что они учат.
- ну, они говорили про небольшое кол-во украинцев, которые прямо тут в США находятся на профессиональном военном обучении, мы их вытащили с уроков на пару дней, чтобы по-быстрому научить пользоваться Switchblade дронами. Украинцы их пока не знают, хотя они не такие сложные, но всё-таки показать им по-быстрому. Заодно, раз уж они тут, чтоб два раза не вставать. И эти люди кстати скоро закончат обучение и поедут в Украину и всё там всем расскажут.
Q: And are you providing Switchblades -- so sorry, -- with regards to the Switchblades, are you providing the Switchblade 600 or 300?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I'm not going to get into the specific variants here. They are getting Switchblade UAVs and I'm going to leave it at that.
- а что за свичблейды, 300 или 600?
- не скажу
