Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to achieve any of his strategic goals of an unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine.. According to the press service of the Pentagon, this was announced on September 19 by a senior defense official.

Putin attacked peaceful Ukraine on February 24 and attacked Kyiv with lightning speed to eliminate legitimate Ukrainian authorities and establish a puppet regime, Pentagon official said. But this plan failed, so the Russians deployed troops to eastern Ukraine..

“September 1…President Putin called for the entire Donetsk region to be brought under Russian control by September 15,” the official said.. “But Putin’s forces have clearly failed to succeed.”.

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In turn, he noted that the Ukrainians successfully carried out a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, returning under their control an area the size of the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined..

“The Russian military is going through hard times, throwing out personnel to participate in a misguided war against Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has inflicted heavy casualties on Russian troops invading the country, and we see the Kremlin increasingly scrambling to find new recruits to fill its rare ranks.. And the Russians are doing such a poor job that the news from the Kharkiv region has inspired many Russian volunteers to give up fighting,” the official said..

He cited a video circulating on social networks where the owner of PMC Wagner is trying to convince Russian prisoners to join the fight in Ukraine..

“We believe this is part of a Wagner campaign to recruit over 1,500 convicted felons, but many refuse,” the official said.. “Our information indicates that the Wagner Air Force is taking heavy losses in Ukraine, especially and not surprisingly among young and inexperienced fighters.”.

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He also noted that the Ukrainian military, on the contrary, have high morale and continue to purposefully move forward, freeing more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region.. Also Ukrainians are still making “intentional progress” against Russians in the south. The Russians advanced into the Donbass region, but the advance is only a few hundred meters.

The Pentagon spokesman noted that the United States considers Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure more retaliation than any military sense.. He also stressed that the war is far from over, however, Ukraine has already made great progress against the superior forces of the enemy and must have the support of the United States and allies in order to continue the fight..

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Recall that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States has provided Ukraine with military assistance worth $15.1 billion..