Russian warships on Wednesday night launched missiles and artillery at the Ukrainian sea coast near Tuzla, a village to the south of Odesa, a top Ukrainian official said.
Gerashchenko said that he believes Russia wanted to test Ukraine’s coastal defense system, adding that there was no attempt to land paratroops. He didn’t clarify whether any of the shelling hit anything.
More than 950 missiles were fired since Russian forces started their attack on the former Soviet nation about three weeks ago, up from an estimated 900 on Monday, a senior U.S. Defense Department (USDOD) official said on Tuesday, adding that both Russia and Ukraine still retain about 90 percent of their combat power.
As airstrikes continue, the United States has seen indications that Russia may believe it needs more troops and supplies than it has on hand in the country, and is considering ways to get resources brought in, said the USDOD official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. military assessments.
The official did not elaborate on the indications, and said that as of Tuesday, however, there has been no actual movement of reinforcement troops currently in Russia going into Ukraine.
According to the official, Russian ground forces are still about 9–12 miles northwest of Kyiv and 12–19 miles east of the city, which is being increasingly hit by long-range strikes. The official said Ukrainian troops continue to put up stiff resistance in Kharkiv and other areas.
“Russian forces have made minimal progress on land, sea, or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses,” SIS said in the update.
