United States Secretary of Defense LLoyd Austin and new Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov attend the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on September 19, 2023. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke with Pentagon head Lloyd Austin by phone on Nov. 25 and discussed Russian airstrikes, the U.S. Department of Defense revealed.
“Secretary Austin condemned Russia's continued barrage of missile and Unmanned Aerial System attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.”
The two defense chiefs pledged to remain in close contact.
“They also discussed security assistance priorities, as Ukraine continues to fight Russian aggression.”
Lance Luo (Li P. Luo) is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. Previously, he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Hromadske Television in Kyiv. He also spent three years in finance and strategy consulting. Mr. Luo graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as an arbitrator at FINRA.
The strikes are a part of Ukraine's ongoing "long-range sanctions" campaign targeting Russia's military-industrial and energy infrastructure deep behind the front line, as Kyiv seeks to impose higher costs on Moscow's war effort.
The latest estimates appear to be significantly higher than figures published earlier this month by independent Russian media outlets Mediazona and Meduza that estimated 352,000 Russian men between the ages of 18 and 59 have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
"Our goal is to increase the pressure on the Russians in the rear even further and prevent them from carrying out active assault operations," Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek speaks with Kaupo Rosin, director general of Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, about Russia’s long-term strategy against Ukraine and Europe, the risks facing NATO’s eastern flank, and why Moscow still views the United States as its main adversary.
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