五角大楼一直在提供俄罗斯入侵乌克兰和乌克兰抵抗努力的每日更新。
以下是一名美国高级国防官员周一在第26天对记者说的一些要点:
俄罗斯对乌克兰使用高超音速导弹:拜登
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周一晚间证实，俄罗斯已经在乌克兰使用了一枚高超音速导弹，称这是“他们唯一能够绝对确定的事情”
“这并没有太大的区别，只是几乎不可能阻止它。他们使用它是有原因的，”拜登在华盛顿特区的商业圆桌会议首席执行官季度会议上说
周一早些时候，一名美国高级国防官员无法证实俄罗斯在乌克兰使用高超音速导弹的说法，但表示不清楚为什么会这样。
“老实说，这有点让人挠头，因为不太清楚为什么，如果这是真的，你需要从不远的地方发射一枚高超音速导弹来击中一座建筑物?”这位官员说。
高超音速武器的主要优势之一是能够躲避远距离目标的雷达探测。但对于打击邻近的乌克兰，优势就不那么明显了。
这位国防官员说，俄罗斯可能使用这种武器的一个原因可能是因为精确制导弹药不足，或者是为了在谈判中获得优势而向西方和乌克兰发出信息，并补充说，从纯粹的军事角度来看，这是不实际的。
俄罗斯在地面上没有进展
这名官员说，俄罗斯军队并不比一周前更接近基辅。
“按照我们的评估，他们没有实现任何目标，也就是人口中心，这样他们就可以占领并接管乌克兰，”这名官员说。
该官员补充说，你可以“一只手”数出俄罗斯军队已经占领的城市，并指出顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克在入侵前就已经在他们的控制之下。
“那么在现在的26天里，他们得到了什么?他们得到了梅利托波尔，他们得到了别尔江斯克，他们得到了赫尔松。就是这样。他们没有哈尔科夫，没有马里乌波尔，”这名官员说。
据该官员称，乌克兰军队甚至发起反击，试图夺回赫尔松。
“很明显，乌克兰人没有表现出停止抵抗的迹象，也没有减缓对俄罗斯人攻击的迹象，”这名官员说。
这名官员说，俄罗斯停滞不前的努力主要归功于乌克兰军队和公民，以及总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)的领导。
“正如你们所见，泽伦斯基总统非常鼓舞人心，确实激励了他的部队和公民，因为一些普通公民正在拿起武器战斗，”这名官员说。
但来自美国和其他国家的武器和训练也发挥了重要作用。
“这不仅仅是指指点点和开枪，”这位官员说。“他们之所以能够变得灵活和富有创造力，是因为他们在过去八年里接受了良好的训练。”
尽管遇到挫折，俄罗斯部队的大部分力量完好无损，并正在努力克服。
“他们正在寻找机会获得一些动力——甚至不是重新获得动力...因为他们从未真正拥有过。这就是让他们如此沮丧的地方，”这位官员说。
该官员称，俄罗斯地面努力受挫导致更多的导弹袭击和对城市的炮击，这使得平民的处境更加危险。
“这不是一支以精确著称的军队，”这名官员谈到入侵者时说。
五角大楼新闻秘书约翰·柯比星期一对记者说，五角大楼认为俄罗斯在某些情况下故意以平民为目标。
“我们当然看到了俄罗斯军队犯下战争罪的明确证据，”柯比说。“我们正在帮助收集这方面的证据。但是调查程序将会继续，我们会让它发生。我们将为调查过程做出贡献。”
发射失败
美国评估认为，自入侵开始以来，俄罗斯已经向乌克兰发射了1100多枚导弹。这位官员说，有迹象表明，它的精确制导弹药存在“库存问题”，这可能是我们看到更多使用非制导“哑弹”的一个原因。
这位官员补充说，俄罗斯仍然拥有大部分导弹库存。
但是五角大楼也看到了俄罗斯精确武器的可靠性问题。这位官员说，一些俄罗斯导弹“发射失败，或者没有击中目标，或者没有在接触时爆炸”。
敖德萨附近有更多俄罗斯海军行动
虽然仍没有迹象表明即将发生两栖攻击，但美国在黑海北部看到了更多的海军活动，俄罗斯在那里有十多艘不同类型的水面战舰。
“很明显，他们利用水面战斗人员进行炮击，并在敖德萨及其周边地区进行远程射击，”这名官员说。"这是否是两栖攻击的前奏还不清楚."
俄罗斯战力
据该官员称，俄罗斯入侵部队“略低于”90%的战斗力完好无损。
“我们认识到他们每天都在伤亡。他们正在失去飞机，他们正在失去装甲和车辆，这是毫无疑问的。坦克、装甲运兵车、炮兵部队、直升机、固定翼飞机，”该官员说。
至于乌克兰，五角大楼评估其仍有超过90%的战斗力完好无损。这位官员将此归功于来自美国和其他国家的持续武器补给。还要记住，虽然乌克兰的这一估计百分比略高于俄罗斯，但俄罗斯失去的总力量更多。
到目前为止，美国还没有看到俄罗斯向乌克兰增派部队。
亚历山大·埃尔莫琴科/路透社
乌克兰-俄罗斯合作期间，亲俄部队的服役人员站在坦克顶上..
俄罗斯缺乏小单位领导
这位官员无法证实乌克兰方面声称杀死了6名俄罗斯将军，但他表示，入侵部队中有高级军官在地面上是有道理的。
首先，这是俄罗斯军方的一次重大行动
第二，“他们不像我们那样组织军队，他们没有相当于士官的军队。他们的下级军官没有同样的资金和灵活性，他们不像我们那样在下级军官身上投资。
这位官员说，虽然美国军方从初级士官(下士和中士以上)开始灌输战场领导意识，但俄罗斯军方没有这样的风气。
“事实上，战场上可能会有比我们的二星或一星更具战术性的高级领导人，就他们如何组织自己和如何领导而言，这是截然不同的，”这位官员说，并补充说，俄罗斯军队似乎存在指挥和控制问题。
来自美国的价值8亿美元的武器包即将发货这位官员说，美国向乌克兰提供的价值8亿美元的新武器包的首批货物将“非常非常快”到达。该一揽子计划包括数千套肩射反装甲/防空系统、小型武器和100套小型弹簧刀无人机系统。
到目前为止，五角大楼还没有看到俄罗斯试图打击外来武器运输。
After Pentagon demurs, Biden confirms Russia fired hypersonic missile: Ukraine Day 26
The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine's efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday on Day 26:
Russia uses hypersonic missile against Ukraine: Biden
President Joe Biden confirmed Monday night that Russia has used a hypersonic missile in Ukraine, saying it’s “the only thing that they can get through with absolute certainty.”
"It doesn't make that much difference, except it's almost impossible to stop it. There's a reason they’re using it," Biden said at the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Earlier on Monday, a senior U.S. defense official could not confirm Russia's claims to have used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, but said it's not clear why it would.
"It's a bit of a head-scratcher to be honest with you, because it's not exactly clear why, if it's true, would you need a hypersonic missile fired from not that far away to hit a building?" the official said.
One of the major advantages of hypersonic weapons is the ability to evade radar detection from distant targets. But for hitting nearby Ukraine, the advantages are less obvious.
One reason Russia might have used such a weapon could be due to running low on precision-guided munitions, or to send a message to the West and Ukraine in order to gain leverage in negotiations, the defense official said, adding that it is not practical from a purely military perspective.
No Russian progress on the ground
Russian forces are no closer to Kyiv than they were more than a week ago, the official said.
"They haven't achieved anything in terms of what we assessed to be their objectives, which was population centers so that they could occupy and take over Ukraine," the official said.
The official added that you can count "on one hand" the cities Russian forces have taken, noting that Donetsk and Luhansk were already under their control before the invasion.
"So what have they gained in now 26 days? They got Melitopol, they got Berdyansk, and they got Kherson. That's it. They don't have Kharkiv, they don't have Mariupol," the official said.
Ukrainian forces even mounted a counter-attack to try to retake Kherson, according to the official.
"It's very clear that the Ukrainians are showing no signs of stopping the resistance and no signs of slowing down their attacks on the Russians," the official said.
The official said most credit for the stalled Russian efforts goes to the Ukrainian forces and citizens, and the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"President Zelenskyy has been quite inspirational, as you've all seen, and has really motivated his forces and his citizens, because some average citizens are picking up arms and fighting," the official said.
But weapons and training from the U.S. and others are also playing a major role.
"It's not just about pointing and shooting," the official said. "They're able to be nimble and creative because they were so well trained over the last eight years."
Despite setbacks, Russian forces have most of their forces intact and are trying to overcome.
"They are looking for a chance to gain some momentum -- not even regain momentum ... because they never really had it. And that's what's so frustrating for them," the official said.
The frustrated Russian ground effort is leading to more missile strikes and artillery bombardment on cities, which makes things ever more dangerous for civilians, according to the official.
"This is not a military known for precision," the official said of the invaders.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Monday the Pentagon believes Russia is in some cases deliberately targeting civilians.
“We certainly see clear evidence that Russian forces are committing war crimes," Kirby said. "And we are helping with the collecting of evidence of that. But there's investigative processes that are going to go on and we're gonna let that happen. We're going to contribute to that investigative process.”
Failure to launch
The U.S. assesses Russia has fired more than 1,100 missiles against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion. And there are indications it is having "inventory issues" with its precision-guided munitions, which could be one reason we're seeing greater use of unguided "dumb bombs," the official said.
The official added that Russia still has the majority of its missile stocks available.
But the Pentagon is also seeing problems with the reliability of Russia's precision weapons. Some Russian missiles are "failing to launch, or they're failing to hit the target, or they're failing to explode on contact," the official said.
More Russian naval action near Odessa
While there is still no sign of an imminent amphibious assault, the U.S. has seen more naval activity in the northern Black Sea, where Russia has more than a dozen surface warships of varying types.
"Clearly they're using surface combatants for shelling purposes, and for the long-range fires in and around Odessa," the official said. "Whether this is a prelude to an amphibious assault is not clear."
Russian combat power
Russia's invading force has "just below" 90% of its combat power intact, according to the official.
"We recognize that they are taking casualties every day. They are losing aircraft, they are losing armor and vehicles -- there's no doubt about that. Tanks, APCs, artillery units, helicopters, fixed wing jets," the official said.
As for Ukraine, the Pentagon assesses it still has more than 90% of its combat power intact. The official credits this to the constant arms replenishment coming in from the U.S. and others. Also keep in mind that while this estimated percentage is slightly higher for Ukraine than Russia, Russia has more total power to lose.
So far, the U.S. hasn't seen any movement of additional Russian troops to Ukraine.
Russia lacks small-unit leadership
The official could not confirm Ukrainian claims to have killed six Russian generals, but said it makes sense that there would be senior officers on the ground with the invading force.
First, this is a major operation for the Russian military
Second, "they don't organize their military the way we do, they don't have an equivalent to a noncommissioned officer corps. And their junior officers don't have the same wherewithal, flexibility -- they don't invest in their junior officers the kind of initiative that we do," the official said.
While the U.S. military instills a sense of battlefield leadership starting at the junior NCO ranks (corporals and sergeants on up), the Russian military has no such ethos, according to the official.
"The fact that there might be senior leaders on the field perhaps involved at a more tactical level than we would have a two star or a one star, it's apples to oranges in terms of how they organize themselves and how they lead," the official said, adding that Russian forces seem to be having command-and-control problems.
$800 million weapons package from US shipping soonInitial shipments of the new $800 million U.S. weapons package to Ukraine will arrive "very, very soon," the official said. This package includes thousands of shoulder-fired anti-armor/air systems, small arms, and 100 small Switchblade drone systems.
The Pentagon has not seen any attempts by Russia to hit incoming weapon shipments so far.
