RUSSIA’S AIR ATTACKS INTENSIFY: For the fourth day in a row, residents of Kyiv awoke to the sound of air raid sirens and witnessed destruction of civilian infrastructure as Iranian-made kamikaze drones rained down on neighborhoods around Ukraine’s capital city.
It’s a scene that’s playing out across the country, including the city of Mykolaiv near Ukraine’s southern front, where a five-story apartment building was destroyed.
Over the past 24 hours, 40 different Ukrainian cities or villages have been pounded by Russian missiles and drones, according to Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff, as Russian President Vladimir Putin inflicts pain on civilians in an apparent effort to bomb Ukraine into submission, or perhaps to force Ukraine to negotiate a peace deal on Moscow’s terms.
It’s a strategy that Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, labeled “a war crime” in remarks at NATO Headquarters yesterday.
“In the past few days, Russia has increased their strikes on civilian infrastructure, power generation, and dams. Russia has deliberately struck civilian infrastructure with the purpose of harming civilians. They have targeted the elderly, the women, and the children of Ukraine,” Milley said. “Indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilian targets is a war crime in the international rules of war.”
RECENT RUSSIAN MISSILE BARRAGE IS A WAR CRIME, MILLEY SAYS
WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG? At the conclusion of yesterday’s meeting of 50 donor countries at NATO Headquarters, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that more air defenses are on the way to Ukraine, including a German IRIS-T air defense system he said had already been delivered.
But the NASAMS that the Pentagon has promised are still weeks away from arriving, and a reporter from Ukraine, whose family is in the crosshairs in Kyiv, pleaded with Austin to say how soon the skies would be made safe.
“The people of Ukraine would like to ask you, when will they be able to just sleep well?” asked Volodymyr Runets from ICTV. “So when are the systems going to be provided?”
“The short answer to your question, sir, is the systems will be provided as fast as we can physically get them there,” said Austin. “I know that you’re concerned about your family, and certainly, that’s understandable. But we’re going to do everything we can as fast as we can to help the Ukrainian forces get the capability they need to protect the Ukrainian people. That’s very, very important to us.”
WESTERN DEFENSE LEADERS REITERATE SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE AFTER RUSSIAN ONSLAUGHT
‘IT’S QUITE COMPLICATED’: Milley said building integrated air and missile defenses, where short-range, low-altitude systems; medium-range, medium-altitude systems; and long-range and high-altitude systems are linked together with radars and command-and-control and communication systems, will “take a little bit of time.”
“It’s quite complicated from a technical standpoint. It is achievable, and that’s what we’re aiming at,” Milley said. “What Ukraine is asking for, and what we think can be provided, is an integrated air missile defense system. So that doesn’t control all the airspace over Ukraine, but they are designed to control priority targets that Ukraine needs to protect.”
“So far, Ukraine has very effectively used their SA-6s and -8s, S-300s and SC-10, -11s, etc. So they’ve been very effective at denying Russian air superiority,” Milley said. “So what needs to be done here by all of the various countries that were at the conference today is chip in and help them rebuild and sustain an integrated air missile defense system.”
PUTIN’S RAGE: RUSSIA WASTES DWINDLING NUMBER OF MISSILES ‘WITH NO EFFECT’
Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Stacey Dec. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE
Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!
HAPPENING TODAY: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Kazakhstan, where it’s expected Turkey will offer to mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Turkey is a member of NATO but has stayed mostly neutral in the war and notably helped negotiate the United Nations-brokered deal that allowed grain shipments to resume from Ukraine while the war rages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out talks with Russia after Putin declared four regions of Ukraine to be part of Russia after conducting fraudulent referendums last month.
ALSO TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will brief reporters at NATO Headquarters at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time at the conclusion of the two-day meeting of alliance defense ministers.
Arriving at NATO Headquarters this morning, Austin thanked all of the countries that committed to providing more assistance to Ukraine at yesterday’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. “Russia is in its eighth month of its unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine. And since it has done that, allies have continued to step up to provide security assistance.”
Standing with Austin was Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who welcomed yesterday’s vote in the U.N. General Assembly, which calls on all “states, the U.N., and international organizations not to recognize any of Russia’s annexation claim and demands the immediate reversal of its annexation declaration.”
“The vote in the U.N. was a clear condemnation of the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories and a clear call on Russian President Putin to reverse these decisions and to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said Stoltenberg.
The U.N. resolution passed 143 to 5, with 35 abstentions, including China and India. The countries voting against were Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria.
JAN. 6 COMMITTEE RECOVENES: The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is holding what is likely its last public presentation of evidence as it continues to build a case that former President Donald Trump stoked an insurrection after refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election.
The 1 p.m. hearing will be broadcast live by most news channels and is expected to reveal new information uncovered over the summer.
“We have a bunch of new documentary evidence and statements that establish the central role that Donald Trump played and his overwhelming culpability in these events,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told CNN yesterday. “I don’t think any reasonable, open-minded observer could watch what we’re going to do … and not come away with one conclusion, which is that none of this would have happened, except for the will of Donald Trump.”
“The effort to overturn the election continued after the election, and it continued after Jan. 6 itself. So, this is a continuing clear and present danger to democratic institutions,” Raskin said. “The American people have never seen anything like this in our lifetimes.”
TRUMP INDICTMENT ODDS SKYROCKET AFTER BOMBSHELL MAR-A-LAGO REPORT
IT’S ALL ABOUT CHINA: The Biden administration released its National Security Strategy after months of delay, and no surprise, it cited China as America’s primary geopolitical competitor.
“We will effectively compete with the People’s Republic of China, which is the only competitor with both the intent and, increasingly, the capability to reshape the international order, while constraining a dangerous Russia,” the 48-page unclassified version of the documents said.
“Today, our world is once again at an inflection point. We are in the early years of a decisive decade,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a speech at Georgetown University. “The terms of our competition with the People’s Republic of China will be set.”
The strategy calls for strengthening the U.S. nuclear arsenal while taking steps to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our strategy.
“Our competitors and potential adversaries are investing heavily in new nuclear weapons. By the 2030s, the United States for the first time will need to deter two major nuclear powers, each of whom will field modern and diverse global and regional nuclear forces,” the document said.
BIDEN NAME-CHECKS CHINA IN LONG-AWAITED NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY
‘PROMOTING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION’: The strategy also veered away from military doctrine and said the Biden administration will seek to strengthen America’s democracy by rooting out “systemic disparities in our laws, policies, and institutions.”
“We will strengthen the effectiveness of the force by promoting diversity and inclusion; intensifying our suicide prevention efforts; eliminating the scourges of sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of violence, abuse, and discrimination; and rooting out violent extremism,” according to a passage that is sure to draw the attention of critics who believe the Pentagon has become weakened by a “woke” agenda.
Notably, while “China” is mentioned nine times in the document, “climate” rates 63 mentions, with 20 specific mentions of “climate change.” The services — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard — all get a single mention in a single sentence.
FOUR-STAR PROMOTION: The Pentagon has announced that the president has nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas Bussiere to get his fourth star and become the next commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Bussiere is the deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
NAVY SEAL CANDIDATE DIED ‘IN LINE OF DUTY’ AFTER HELL WEEK, INVESTIGATION FINDS
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Western defense leaders reiterate support for Ukraine after Russian onslaught
Washington Examiner: Recent Russian missile barrage is a war crime, Milley says
Washington Examiner: Putin’s rage: Russia wastes dwindling number of missiles ‘with no effect’
Washington Examiner: Russia arrests eight people in connection with bombing of Crimean Bridge
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Will Biden care about Germany’s latest kowtowing to China?
Washington Examiner: Navy SEAL candidate died ‘in line of duty’ after Hell Week, investigation finds
Washington Examiner: Biden name-checks China in long-awaited national security strategy
Washington Examiner: Trump indictment odds skyrocket after bombshell Mar-a-Lago report
Washington Examiner: DHS to expel illegal Venezuelans via Trump-era border policy
Washington Examiner: US company provided tech to Russian missile-maker despite sanctions: Report
Washington Examiner: White House tiptoes around Biden’s claim Putin is a ‘rational actor’
Washington Post: Xi’s looming third term in China raises threat of war over Taiwan
Bloomberg: Xi’s Vow To ‘Stand Tall’ Has China On Collision Course With US
Politico: Senators Seek Billions More in Military Aid for Taiwan
New York Times: Kyiv to Stay on Offensive Through Winter, U.S. Defense Chief Says
Wall Street Journal: Ukrainian Strategy Is Running Circles Around Russian Forces
Reuters: Russian Nuclear Strike Likely To Provoke ‘Physical Response,’ NATO Official Says
Breaking Defense: US Arms Sales Rebound to $50B in Fiscal 2022
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Combat Command Declares IOC for New Rescue Helicopter
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Pentagon Nominates New AFGSC Commander, New Deputy CSO for Operations
Air Force Times: Air Force Praises New Pilot Training but Struggles to Hire Instructors
Newsweek: U.S. Combines HIMARS With Stealth Fighters For New Training Exercises
Marine Corps Times: 3 Sikhs Keep Fighting To Go To Marine Boot Camp With Turbans, Beards
CNN: U.S. State Department Says Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Not Our Focus Right Now’
19fortyfive.com: Russia May Order 2,400 Iranian Kamikaze Drones to Attack Ukraine
19fortyfive.com: A No-Fly Zone in Ukraine: A Really Dumb Idea is Back
19fortyfive.com: What Air Defenses Can Ukraine Actually Get to Fight Russia?
19fortyfive.com: Putin Has A Problem: Is Russia Running Out of Weapons in Ukraine?
19fortyfive.com: AbramsX Marks the Spot for the U.S. Army’s Tank Dreams
The Cipher Brief: Change is in the Mission for US Special Operations Command
Calendar
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 13
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies 2022 Global Development Forum discussion: “Envisioning a Free and Prosperous Ukraine” https://www.csis.org/events/2022-global-development-forum
9 a.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center virtual discussion: “Afghanistan Under the Taliban and its Regional Impact,” with Daniel Markey, senior adviser for South Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace; Yun Sun, co-director of the Stimson East Asia Program; Elizabeth Threlkeld, director of the Stimson South Asia Program; and Barnett Rubin, fellow at the Stimson China Program https://www.stimson.org/event/trip-findings-afghanistan
10 a.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “Exploiting a Hidden Window of Opportunity to Deter a Conflict over Taiwan,” with Michael Brown, visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and former director of the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit; former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Strategy Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner at WestExec Advisors; and Daniel Patt, senior fellow at Hudson’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology https://www.hudson.org/events/2171-virtual-event
1:30 p.m. 2201 C Street N.W. — Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas hold a joint news conference with Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez.
2 p.m. — National Endowment for Democracy virtual discussion: “Sustaining the Momentum: Countering Kleptocracy in Russia and Beyond,” with Shannon Green, executive director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Anti-Corruption Task Force; Nikita Kulachenkov, independent anti-corruption investigator; and Nate Sibley, research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative https://www.ned.org/events/sustaining-the-momentum-countering-kleptocracy
2 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. — Hudson Institute book discussion on China after Mao: The Rise of a Superpower, with author Frank Dikotter, chair professor of humanities at the University of Hong Kong https://www.hudson.org/events/2151-china-after-mao
3 p.m. — Jewish Institute for National Security of America a virtual discussion: “Perspectives on Israel-Lebanon Maritime Deal,” with former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, senior fellow and director of the Washington Institute’s Program on Arab Politics; retired Israel Defense Forces Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, JINSA fellow and former Israeli national security advisor; and Blaise Misztal, JINSA vice president for policy https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
5:30 p.m. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies virtual discussion: “Finland, NATO, and the Lessons of History,” with Ahonen Pertti, professor at the University of Jyvaskyla https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events
5:30 p.m. 1234 Ninth St. N.W. — Axios discussion: “Guarding Against and Responding to Cyberattacks,” with Deputy National Security Council Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger; former homeland security adviser Thomas Bossert, president of Trinity Cyber; Heather Adkins, vice president of security engineering at Google; and Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator https://respondingtocyberattacks.splashthat.com
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 14
12:30 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Posturing U.S. Space Operations for a Warfighting Advantage,” with Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of the Space Operations Command https://www.csis.org/events/lt-gen-stephen-n-whiting
2 p.m. — Center for Security and International Studies International Security Program and the U.S. Naval Institute Maritime Security Dialogue: “Seventh Fleet update,” with Vice Adm. Karl Thomas; retired Vice Adm. Peter Daly, CEO and publisher, U.S. Naval Institute; and Seth Jones, director, CSIS International Security Program https://www.csis.org/events/maritime-security-dialogue
2 p.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. N.W. — United States Institute of Peace film screening and discussion: “My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan,” with co-writer and co-director Phil Grabsky; and Belquis Ahmadi, USIP senior program officer https://www.usip.org/events/screening-bafta-winner-my-childhood-my-country
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We will strengthen the effectiveness of the force by promoting diversity and inclusion; intensifying our suicide prevention efforts; eliminating the scourges of sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of violence, abuse, and discrimination; and rooting out violent extremism.”
Excerpt from the Biden administration’s just-released National Security Strategy
