Ukraine war latest: US says Russian missile launches more frequent

The Pentagon stated Russia had fired 600 missiles because the begin of the invasion, a rise from 500 as of Friday, suggesting an acceleration from the roughly 20 launches a day that have been detected on the finish of final week.

A senior US defence official stated Russia had moved 95 per cent of its forces that had been pre-positioned for the invasion into Ukraine. He added that there had been solely “restricted modifications on the bottom” over the previous 24 hours.

“Russian forces continued efforts to advance and isolate Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv throughout the north and east are being met with sturdy Ukrainian resistance,” the official stated, including that the Russian convoy north of Kyiv stays stalled.

In southern Ukraine, the Pentagon continues to watch preventing close to Kherson, a Black Sea metropolis that Russian forces took final week, and Mykolaiv. US and western officers have been involved that Russia was shifting west alongside the Black Beach for a attainable assault on Odesa, the crucial port metropolis.

However the US defence official stated: “We have now not noticed an amphibious invasion in or close to Odesa, nor will we assess that one is imminent.

The US official stated that Ukrainian air area remained contested, however that Ukraine’s air and missile defences remained intact and in use, and that the Ukrainian navy continued to fly plane.

He stated the US had seen movies on social media of Russian plane being shot down, including that the Pentagon couldn’t independently confirm that Russia had suffered the losses however equally was not ready to refute them.

“Either side have taken losses to each plane and missile defence inventories,” he stated “We assess that each side nonetheless possess a majority of their air defence methods and capabilities.”