Russia is weakened militarily, has become a geopolitical pariah: US Def Sec Austin

Washington, Apr 8 (PTI) More than a month after its unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military is now a weakened one and has become a pariah from a geopolitical standpoint, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday.

“Ukraine maintains its sovereignty and its ability to protect its country, defend itself. It maintains its government. Russia is weakened militarily. And Russia, from a geopolitical standpoint, is a pariah. Countries will not volunteer to align themselves with Russia,” Austin told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing.

General Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Russian Air Force has not even established air superiority, let alone air supremacy, which is one of the reasons why they’re having great difficulty on the ground.“ “So, the air superiority mission is not being achieved. Why is that? It’s because of the survival of the air defence systems, both the MANPADS that we’ve been providing Stingers and like from other NATO countries, plus the longer-range Sams that have been provided that they already had. So that system has denied the effective use of the airspace to the Russian military,” he said.

“Now that’s not to say Russian air does not get through. They do on occasion but for the most part they’re not very effective — the Russian air force. And that’s the reason,” he said.

The US has provided 60,000 anti-tank weapons and about 25,000 anti-aircraft weapon systems that have been sent by the United States and its allies.

“Those are the two weapon systems that have proven most effective. The one for the air, in particular, the best way to deny the Russians the airspace is through the air defence systems, and that’s what they’re using,” Milley said.

According to him, the Russians have been struggling with their logistical resupply, fuel, ammunition and food.

“They’ve been having a very, very difficult time. Part of that is because the lines of communications that they have, the ground lines of communications, are at risk to dismounted and mounted Ukrainian forces that are conducting ambushes along those lines of communication,” he said.

Senator Reed said Russia has unleashed its “illegal and unprovoked and indeed a barbaric attack on Ukraine, upending peace and stability in Europe”.

“Putin’s invasion has inflicted horrific suffering upon innocent civilians in Ukraine, threatened European security and caused serious consequences for the global economy. The Ukrainian military has performed heroically in the face of this overwhelming violence and the Ukrainian people have shown the world what true courage looks like,” he said.

“If Putin thought his actions would drive a wedge between NATO and members and within the international community, he was badly mistaken. The conflict in Ukraine has reinvigorated the NATO alliance and exposed the brutal nature of Putin’s regime,” Reed said.

“Since the start of the conflict, the international community has implemented a severe and far-reaching series of economic and energy sanctions against Russia, increased military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and reinforced NATO’s military presence along the eastern flank,” he said.

Reed said the international community has united in a way not seen in decades and its potential adversaries from around the world are taking note.

“With that in mind, this budget request appropriately recognizes China and Russia as the key strategic competitors for our military. Concurrent with the release of the budget, the Defence Department submitted to Congress classified versions of the National Defence Strategy, the National Nuclear Posture Review, and the Missile Defense Review,” said the Senator.

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