‘AS RAPIDLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE’: Despite the constant calls from Ukraine for more weapons, faster, U.S. defense leaders at yesterday’s donor’s meeting at NATO headquarters insist they are filling the requests for heavy weapons at a record pace, “as rapidly as humanly possible.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley met with Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, along with representatives of nearly 50 countries that make up the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, and went down Ukraine’s list of most urgent needs one by one.
“Bottom line is everything General Zaluzhnyi asked for, as rapidly as possible, we get a source through the international community, through the United States and allies and partners, and we get it done,” said Milley. “From the time the requests are validated and authorized it is only a matter of days until the requirement is sourced, shipped, in the hands of Ukrainians.”
BIDEN ANNOUNCES NEW $1 BILLION MILITARY AID PACKAGE TO UKRAINE
UKRAINE STILL OUTGUNNED: “The numbers clearly favor the Russians. In terms of artillery, they do outnumber, they out-gun and out-range,” Milley conceded, but he pushed back when questioned about a tweet from Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak that Ukraine needs far more than what the U.S. and its partners have supplied — 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, and 1,000 drones.
“I don’t know where those numbers are coming from,” said Milley. “They asked for 10 battalions of artillery; 12 battalions of artillery were delivered. Again, I’d say 97,000 anti-tank systems. That’s more anti-tank systems than tanks in the world. They asked for 200 tanks; they got 237 tanks. They asked for 100 infantry fighting vehicles; they got over 300.”
Austin touted the lethality of the American HIMARS rocket system, which he said will allow the Ukrainians to take out Russian command and control and supply lines, which will atrit Russia’s ability to sustain its forces in the east. “These are precision munitions,” he said. “With a properly-trained crew, they will hit what they’re aiming at.”
Milley said 60 Ukrainians have completed training on the system, and the weapons should be on the battlefield by the end of the month. “If they use the weapon properly, and it’s employed properly, they ought to be able to take out a significant amount of targets and that will make a difference.”
“In warfare, no weapon system is a silver bullet, ever. So, no weapon system — singular weapon system ever, quote, unquote, turns the balance. It’s the combination of ground maneuver with air and artillery,” he said. “And that is where the HIMARS comes in.”
KEY HOUSE DEMOCRAT FAULTS BIDEN FOR ‘BUYING INTO’ PUTIN’S INTIMIDATION TACTICS
LOSS OF DONBAS ‘NOT A DONE DEAL’: Despite Russia’s upper hand in the battle for Severodonetsk, where Russian troops now hold more than 75% of the strategically important city, Milley says the fall of the city is not inevitable.
“The Ukrainians are fighting them street-by-street, house-by-house, and it’s not a done deal. There are no inevitabilities in war. War takes many, many turns,” Milley said.
“The Ukrainians are fighting a heroic fight. This fight down in the Donbas has been going on since 16 April, and the advances that the Russians have made have been very slow, a very tough slog, very severe battle of attrition, almost World-War-I-like, and the Russians have suffered a tremendous amount of casualties,” he said.
“They’ve got command-and-control issues, logistics issues. They’ve got morale issues, leadership issues, and a wide variety of other issues.”
RUSSIAN MILITARY HAS LOST ’20-30%’ OF TROOPS IN UKRAINE, MILLEY SAYS
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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg are both scheduled to brief reporters at the close of today’s NATO Defense Ministerial.
Austin’s remarks are set for 9:30 a.m. and will be streamed live on the Pentagon and NATO websites. This morning, Austin said the main topic today was preparation for the leaders summit to be held in Madrid at the end of the month, and he expressed strong support for Finland and Sweden joining NATO. “These are strong democracies who have values that are very much aligned with our values.”
Yesterday, Stoltenberg conceded that his original hope that the two Nordic countries would be accepted into NATO at the Madrid summit was no longer in the cards. “I was more optimistic then,” he said. “Because at that stage, we didn’t have any information indicating that this will be a problem. Then, since then, we saw the concerns expressed by Turkiye, and therefore this will take some more time than we originally expected.”
HIGH-LEVEL SHOW OF SUPPORT IN KYIV: French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Premier Mario Draghi had traveled by train to Kyiv today, where they will be joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in a collective show of support for Ukraine’s battle against Russian aggression.
In his phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday, President Joe Biden praised the “bravery, resilience, and determination” of the Ukrainian people and vowed that “the United States, together with our allies and partners, will not waver in our commitment to the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom.”
EUROPEAN LEADERS ARRIVE IN KYIV AS ZELENSKY BEGS WEST FOR WEAPONS
WHAT’S IN THE $1 BILLION: The new $1 billion package of security assistance announced yesterday for Ukraine includes additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems.
About a third of the $1 billion comes from DOD inventory, and the rest, $650 million, is new equipment to be purchased with funds authorized by the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Here’s a breakdown, as provided by the Pentagon:
- 18 155 mm Howitzers
- 36,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition
- 18 tactical vehicles to tow 155 mm Howitzers
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems
- Four tactical vehicles to recover equipment
- Spare parts and other equipment
- Two Harpoon coastal defense systems
- Thousands of secure radios
- Thousands of night vision devices, thermal sights, and other optics
- Funding for training, maintenance, sustainment, transportation, and administrative costs
MILLEY: UKRAINE’S HEAVY LOSSES SUSTAINABLE: Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley confirmed that Ukraine is also suffering heavy losses on the front lines. While he said the U.S. casualty estimates are classified, he confirmed that reports that 100 deaths and up to 300 wounded a day “are in the ballpark of our assessments.”
And while high, Milley argued they can sustain those losses because for Ukraine, “this is an existential threat.”
“They’re fighting for the very life of their country. So, your ability to endure suffering, your ability to endure casualties is directly proportional to the object to be obtained. And if the object to be obtained is survival of your country, then you’re going to sustain it,” he said. “As long as they have leadership and they have the means by which to fight.”
TURKEY’S UNWELCOME THREAT: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is causing more headaches for the U.S., with his recent threat of new military operations in northern Syria to extend the 20-mile deep “safe zone” along the border.
That would push into areas that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces currently control, and has drawn bipartisan condemnation from U.S. members of Congress.
“We are extremely concerned about continued threats by Turkey to begin another military incursion into northern Syria. Previous Turkish incursions have disrupted counter-ISIS operations by U.S. and partner forces and exacerbated Syria’s dire humanitarian crisis,” said leaders of the House and Senate Foreign Relations and Affairs committees in a statement.
“We strongly urge the Turkish government and associated forces to refrain from any military operation so the focus in northern Syria can remain on ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS and that further humanitarian disaster is avoided.”
The statement was signed by Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Jim Risch (R-ID), and Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Foreign Relations and Affairs committees, respectively.
TOP IS LEADER CAPTURED IN US-LED SYRIA RAID
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: European leaders arrive in Kyiv as Zelensky begs West for weapons
Washington Examiner: Biden announces new $1 billion military aid package to Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Western leaders pledge additional military aid to Ukraine at defense meeting
Washington Examiner: Russian military has lost ’20-30%’ of troops in Ukraine, Milley says
Washington Examiner: Key House Democrat faults Biden for ‘buying into’ Putin’s intimidation tactics
Washington Examiner: State Department ‘closely monitoring’ reports of Americans captured in Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Chef Jose Andres says Russian missile struck his World Central Kitchen train
Washington Examiner: International Criminal Court prosecutor visits Kharkiv amid war crimes reports
Washington Examiner: Street outside DC’s Saudi Embassy dedicated to slain journalist Khashoggi
Washington Examiner: Putin could inspire North Korea to launch war under tactical nuclear umbrella
Washington Examiner: ‘Practical cooperation’ on the rise as China’s Xi extends olive branch to Putin
Washington Examiner: Top IS leader captured in US-led Syria raid
New York Times: The Battle For Mariupol Came Down To A Single Factory. Will Sievierodonetsk Go The Same Way?
USNI News: U.S. Sending Vehicle-Mounted Harpoon Launchers For Ukraine Coastal Defense
Wall Street Journal: Macron Says Talks Necessary to End War
Wall Street Journal: Xi Restates Close Ties To Putin in Phone Call
Financial Times: Turkey Rejects Nato Offer Of Trilateral Talks With Sweden And Finland
Reuters: The Baltic States Want More NATO. They Won’t Get All They Seek
AP: In Yemen, child soldiering continues despite Houthi promise
Politico: The US Overestimated Russia’s Military Might. Is It Underestimating China’s?
Stars and Stripes: U.S. And Asian Allies Prepare Missile Defense Drill To Counter North Korean Launches
Air Force Magazine: House Armed Services Chair Raises Concerns about F-35—and NGAD
Military.com: ‘Forever Chemicals’ Linked To Hundreds Of Military Bases Are Unsafe At Any Level, EPA Warns
Breaking Defense: DOD Software Deliveries Are Lagging Behind Industry Standards
19fortyfive.com: Putin Has Lost An Astounding 213 Fighter Jets and 30,000 Troops in Ukraine
19fortyfive.com: Drone Swarm ‘Wolfpacks’: The U.S. Army’s Plan for a Super Weapon?
19fortyfive.com: Why Doesn’t the U.S. Military Have a Fleet of Stealth Helicopters?
Calendar
THURSDAY | JUNE 16
8 a.m. 3351 Fairfax Dr. — National Defense Industrial Association 2022 Human Systems Conference at the George Mason University Arlington Campus, focusing on Joint Cognitive Systems, June 15-16, with Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering David Honey delivers keynote address https://www.ndia.org/events/2022/6/15/2022-human-systems-conference
9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion with Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova https://www.csis.org/events/armchair-conversation
9 a.m. — Brookings Institution virtual discussion with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns on “the outlook for U.S.-China relations.” https://www.brookings.edu/events/a-fireside-conversation
9:30 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin press conference at the conclusion of the NATO defense ministerial at NATO Headquarters https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events
9:30 a.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Committee CLOSED markup of the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act. http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
9:45 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Korea-Japan Relations and Trilateral Cooperation,” with former National Security Council Director for East Asia Christopher Johnstone, CSIS Japan chair; and Sue Mi Terry, director of the Wilson Center’s Asia Program https://www.csis.org/events/capital-cable
10 a.m. 390 Cannon — House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol hearing on “the January 6th Investigation,” with testimony from Greg Jacob, former chief counsel to the vice president https://january6th.house.gov
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast discussion: “Assessing Russia’s War in Ukraine,” with former Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Michael Vickers; Eliot Cohen, Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy, CSIS; Emily Harding, deputy director and senior fellow, International Security Program, CSIS; and Seth Jones, senior vice president and director, International Security Program, CSIS https://www.csis.org/events/assessing-russias-war-ukraine
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: beginning at noon, on “Regaining Decision Advantage: Overhauling Joint All-Domain Command and Control to Bolster U.S. Deterrence,” with retired Air Force Gen. Herbert Carlisle, former commander at Air Force Air Combat Command and chair of the Stimson Center’s Board of Directors; retired Navy Adm. Scott Swift, former commander U.S. Pacific Fleet and founder of the Swift Group LLC; and retired Army Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, former deputy commander at Army Futures Command and executive vice president of strategic planning at Flyer Defense LLC https://www.hudson.org/events/2120-virtual-event
1 p.m. 390 Cannon — House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol hearing on “the January 6th Investigation,” with Gregory Jacob, former counsel to Vice President Mike Pence; and J. Michael Luttig, retired judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, https://january6th.house.gov/
MONDAY | JUNE 20
TBA — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., will release the text of his “Chairman’s Mark” of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. https://armedservices.house.gov/press-releases
TUESDAY | JUNE 21
8 a.m. 2401 M St., N.W. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security iDefense Writers Group conversation with Meredith Berger, acting Undersecretary of the Navy/assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and the environment Email Thom Shanker at [email protected]
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 22
10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee full committee markup of H.R.7900, the FY2023 NDAA http://www.armedservices.house.gov
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They’re fighting for the very life of their country. So your ability to endure suffering, your ability to endure casualties is directly proportional to the object to be obtained. And if the object to be obtained is survival of your country then you’re going to sustain it, as long as they have leadership and they have the means by which to fight.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley confirming that Ukraine is suffering roughly 100 combat deaths and 300 wounded daily in the current phase of fighting against Russia in the Donbas.
