Russian forces have fired nearly 670 missiles at Ukrainian targets, US says

Russia has now launched nearly 670 missiles since it began its attack on Ukraine 13 days ago, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday. 

Nearly half of the missiles have been fired from Russia, while the others have largely come from inside Ukraine. In addition, more than 70 of the launches have come from Belarus, and about half a dozen have come from the Black Sea, the official told reporters. 

“Very little of the nation of Ukraine is not covered by some sort of Russian surface-to-air missile capability, and they also are conducting offensive airstrikes through missiles launched by aircraft as well as by mobile launchers,” the official said. “It’s very contested airspace.” 

They added that though there are parts of Ukraine where the Russians have been able gain more control of the airspace, particularly in the northern part of the country, they have not achieved air superiority over the whole country.  

“But it changes, it’s very dynamic, every day,” the official noted.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin also has moved into Ukraine “nearly 100 percent” of the more than 150,000 troops and equipment that were placed on its border prior to the invasion.  

Of that combat power, Putin “still has 95 percent” of what he started with, the official said.  

“If you count his estimated losses just in terms of aircraft and vehicles that are either inoperable or not moving or not available to him, he still has a lot of combat power available,” they said. 

On the ground, U.S. intelligence has observed Russian forces still stalled outside the capital of Kyiv, though bombardment of the city continues and “we do see Russian forces now trying to make an advance” from the northeast.  

The official also confirmed that the port city of Mariupol in the south has become “isolated” by Russian troops from the north and south. 

“There is still a stiff Ukrainian resistance there — it’s not taken, we don’t see that Russian forces are in Mariupol in any significant way — but we assess that they have isolated Mariupol,” the official said.   

Russian forces are also still trying to “advance on and isolate” the northern cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv but have been met with “fighting and resistance” from the Ukrainians, the official said.