пятничный брифинг в пентагонеSo I just want to put into context what we're seeing in Severodonetsk in terms of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ managed retrograde from that location. And the context that I want to share is just, when you look at the sweep of the past four months, obviously we've seen Russia having to, you know, completely recalibrate its plans, because its initial plans were overly ambitious and mismanaged, going from their multi-axis attempt that was defeated by the Ukrainians to now, a focus on Eastern Ukraine. And really, the Russians are just eking out inch by inch of territory here.
So in moving the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Severodonetsk back, what they are doing is putting themselves in a position where they can better defend themselves. And I think it's important to reflect on the cost that Russia has paid for this very small, very incremental gain.
Я хочу об'яснить, что мы видим в Северодонецке, что украинская армия оттуда отступила. Контекст такой, что раше за последние 4 месяца пришлось сильно перенастроить свои планы - начали по всем фронтам, теперь фокусируются на востоке. И они буквально дюйм за дюймом продвигаются.
Т.е. вот украинцы отступили из Северодонецка, чтобы перегруппироваться и лучше защитить себя. И рашисты за эту типа свою малюсенькую "победу" заплатили большую цену.
Q: Good morning, thank you. And, yes, thanks for doing this. Can you give us a bit more on the HIMARS system particularly on the training? How many Ukrainians have been trained on it? And my understanding is these were pre-positioned in the region. Are you pre-positioning a lot there from the United States? Were they already sort of there because they are already European based?
Can you just give us a better sense of how fast the training is going to go, is it still three weeks? So how quickly will these get on the battlefield? And also it appears some of the first four are already on the battlefield. Can you tell us if they're actually in the Donbas? Thank you.
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Absolutely. So I can tell you that the first batch of four HIMARS are in Ukraine. I can't comment on specifically where but they are in Ukraine. So the Ukrainian armed forces have the opportunity to put the HIMARS into the fight. They are serviced by a trained crew that completed training both in terms of operating but also in terms of maintenance and sustainment.
And right now we have another platoon in training to be able to use that second batch of HIMARS that we just announced yesterday. So I don't have a precise date for you on the second batch in terms of when it will arrive. But we're talking a short timeframe. By mid-July you will have all of this capability in Ukraine.
- расскажите про хаймарсы, про обучение. Сколько украинцев уже обучились? Я так поняла, они уже были в европе, недалеко было везти?
Обучение всё-таки требует 3 недели? когда хаймарсы попадут на поле боя? Говорят, они уже там? на Донбасе?
- да, первые 4 хаймарса уже в Украине, я не знаю точно где, но там, так что украинцы уже могут их применять. Украинцы, которые их обслуживают, уже закончили обучение.
И теперь вторая группа пошла обучаться, для которой идут ещё 4 хаймарса. Не могу точно сказать, когда они прибудут, но скоро. К середине июля.
Q: Hi, thank you. So can you tell us what specific -- the riverine and patrol boats that were part of the announcement yesterday -- What is the specific threat that Ukraine asked for to combat that the patrol boats were what the U.S. is offering? And then can you tell us where that is? I'm assuming it's the Black Sea, but just a little more detail on that.
Also on the harpoon launchers, can you give us a little bit more detail about when those -- the truck mounted harpoon launchers that the U.S. is going to provide to Ukraine -- when those could be delivered if you have estimate on that? Thanks.
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sure. So the patrol boats, let me give you a little bit more detail here. So it is a total of 18 but they are slightly different vessels. Two of them are small unit riverine craft, 35 feet. Six of them are maritime combat craft, 40 foot patrol boats. And then 10 of them are medium force protection patrol boats, these are 34 foot Sea Ark Dauntless class patrol boats. So slightly different variety within the overall 18 boat package.
And so I use the word riverine in there, these are largely to protect the river ways and to enable Ukraine to maintain its control of the river ways. They can also be used in, you know, close-in coastal areas, but the river piece was the initial impetus I believe for this -- for this particular request.
Hopefully that's -- oh, and then on harpoon, I don't have a precise date for you. So you know, we can look and see if we have something more detailed and I can get back to you, but at this very moment I don't have that for you.
- вы анонсировали какие-то речные и патрульные лодки - а зачем вдруг? украинцы их просили, потому что там какая-то новая угроза? где-то на чорном море?
И про "гарпуны", примонтированные на машины, - когда их доставят?
- про патрульные лодки - я называю их речные, потому что они в основном для защиты рек, украинцам же надо контролировать свои реки. У берега моря их тоже использовать, но вообще предназначаются они для рек.
Про гарпуны у меня нет конкретной даты.
Q: Hello. Thank you. I have two questions. First, I wanted to know -- to speak about the HIMARS. Why only four? I understand that the first batch was four because you wanted to see how they were used and if the training would go well. So if it indeed went well, why only four? And my second question is about the gains that the Russians are making in Donbass. I understand that now they control around 20 percent of Ukraine. So I don't understand how you can say that it's really incremental because 20 percent, it's a lot.
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thank you, Sylvie. Are -- is that it, yes?
Q: Yes.
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Okay. So on your first question about HIMARS, I think it's really important to think about HIMARS differently from how you would think about, say, the howitzers, the M777s that we've provided previously. The HIMARS enable standoff distance, but they also with the munitions that we're providing offer incredible precision. So this isn't about, you know, volume. It's about, you know, precise targeting.
So in addition to the fact that we wanted to, you know, introduce this system in a very thoughtful and very deliberate way with appropriate training, with an appropriate ability to have a feedback loop on how well the system is being introduced, there's also the fact that it's just a different kind of system.
And then the piece that I mentioned earlier is also really important. It's not just the U.S. We also have -- so you can't just look at the eight so far from the U.S. You have to also look at what the U.K. and Germany are doing so far. And there are other countries that are on the cusp of considering additional MLRS systems. So it's a larger effort than the U.S. piece.
In terms of the gains, you know, I don't want to ever minimize not just the percentage of territory, you know, but the loss of Ukrainian lives that we've seen from Russia. So in saying that Russia is making incremental gains, I'm certainly not minimizing the territory that they do hold and how significant that is to Ukraine and really to the world as a significant violation of sovereignty.
But that said, I think you have to compare what Russia -- the limited gains that Russia has achieved versus what Russia's original plan was because Russia's original plan was to have taken Kyiv by this point and to be thoroughly dominating Ukraine. And instead what we see is they have these gains around the edges and you have, you know, a fierce Ukraine that is fighting back with the world by its side. So in that sense it really is significantly less than what Russia intended.
- про хаймарсы - почему всего 4? я так поняла, что первые 4 были на пробу, посмотреть как тренинг пройдёт и вообще. Тренинг прошёл зашибись, почему тогда шлём опять всего 4?
И ещё про рашистский захват на Донбасе. Я так понимаю, они уже 20% Украины оттяпали - как же можно говорить, что у них прогресс "небольшой", потому что 20% это много.
- про хаймарсы - они ведь не такие как гаубицы. Они бьют далеко и очень точно. Так что дело не в кол-ве хаймарсов, дело в том, как стрелять.
И вообще, мы же не единственные с такими системами. Не то что в Украине всего 8 будет. Другие страны тоже шлют.
Насчёт захвата территорий. Я не хочу преуменьшать процент захваченных земель, или тем более потерю украинских жизней. Когда я говорю, что прогресс маленький инкрементальный, я не минимизирую процент захвата, и как это важно украинцам, и не только украинцам, всему миру.
Но просто если это сравнить с их начальными планами захапать Киев и в общем-то поработить Украину - как они по краям медленно продвигаются, а украинцы отчаянно сражаются, и мир им помогает. Просто короче прогресс маленький по ср. с тем, что они хотели.
Q: Thank you. If you don't mind, I would like to follow up on this question from Sylvie but on a different face. How would you describe the withdrawal of the Ukrainians from Severodonetsk? Is it like a defeat? Is it like saving lives? How would you describe it? And I do have another question also. We are seeing more assets given to the Ukrainians that are to do with the coast, with the maritime area. Is it an anticipation to give them more strength to defend themselves against an attack by the Russians on Odessa?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks. So in terms of the situation in Severodonetsk, the way that I view it is the Ukrainian Armed Forces are performing a professional, tactical retrograde in order to consolidate their forces in positions that they can better defend themselves. And I see this as occurring on the heels of their ability to continue to pin down Russian forces over a very long period of time in a very small geographic area. So that's how I would describe the current situation there.
If I understood your second question correctly, I want to distinguish between the two capabilities that we've touched on and maybe that will answer your question.
These coastal and riverine patrol boats are essentially, you know, very useful in patrolling the rivers of Ukraine. In terms of defending the Black Sea coast, including the Port of Odessa, this is where we see coastal defense capabilities as being vital. And here is where the fact that you've seen donations from allies of the harpoon system and now you have the United States also leaning in to provide the harpoon system, this will be helpful in enabling the Ukrainians to defend, you know, Odessa, and other positions along the Black Sea coast. I hope that was helpful.
- как вы оцениваете отступление украинцев из Северодонецка? это поражение? это спасение жизней?
И ещё вопрос - эти лодки, это что, ожидаются, что надо защищать Одесу?
- В Северодонецке, мы считаем, украинская армия выполняет профессиональное тактическое отступление, чтобы консолидировать свои силы на позициях, которые позволят лучше защититься. Они смогли припереть к стене русских на очень долгое время на очень маленьком участке, и они продолжают это делать. Так я вижу эту ситуацию.
Про лодки - они в общем-то для рек. Чтобы защищать берег чорного моря и Одесу - для этого им поставляют гарпуны.
Q: I believe the first time you described the retrograde from Severodonetsk you said that it was a marginal gain by the Russians at great cost. So if you can't give us an estimate of Russian casualties, what is the basis for the statement that they have made these incremental gains at great cost?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Well I would say I can't give you a precise figure, but I do say with confidence that the Russians have suffered heavy casualties, and they also have suffered heavy equipment losses. So these are the steep costs that we're talking about.
Q: Do they have the ability to keep pushing forward beyond Severodonetsk and finish the takeover of the Luhansk without having to stop and regroup?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I think what you're seeing now is the Russian forces are showing the signs of wear and tear and debilitated morale. And it is impacting their ability to move forward swiftly. That's why you're seeing this kind of inch-by-inch progress where there is any progress. I think that, if you look back at the situation in Moscow, you have a limited ability -- even though you have a large population in Russia, you have a limited ability to mobilize additional forces without political costs. So even though we do see this large nation of Russia with what was a large military, you have to see that they are operating within some pretty serious constraints that is slowing significantly the progress that Putin expected to see.
- вы сказали, что в Северодонецке у рашистов незначительная победа огромной ценой. Сколько же их там полегло, у вас есть цифры?
- не могу сказать точные цифры, но я точно говорю, трупов - кучи. И большие потери в технике.
- у них осталась ещё возможность всё равно продолжать наступать и захватить всю Луганскую область?
- ну они показывают признаки изношенности, поэтому продвигаются очень медленно, дюйм за дюймом. Мобилизировать больше народу у них вроде тоже не очень получается. Поэтому хоть как бы и большая вооружённая до зубов страна, но прогресс хреновый, не такой, как путин ожидал
