The Russia-Ukraine war has turned into a "huge strategic defeat" for the Kremlin, according to a Pentagon official, as Russia has likely lost half of its main battle tanks and used up most of its precision-guided weaponry.

Pentagon Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told a group of reporters Tuesday at George Washington University that "Putin has failed." He added that if the war persists, Russia will be in a worse position when it ends than it was before, as reported by CNN.

Ukraine Will Maintain Its Independence

Since the conflict began in February, Kahl claims that Russia has lost "tens of thousands of casualties," which is "orders of magnitude" higher than the losses incurred by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Kahl said that the Russian military had lost half of its main combat tanks. Over 80% of their land forces are stuck in the mud in Ukraine. The Pentagon official added that the Russian forces have used up most of their precision-guided weapons in Ukraine, and it will be exceedingly difficult for them to restore their military to its pre-war strength due to sanctions and export regulations.

Kahl remarked that Vladimir Putin "went into this war trying to extinguish Ukraine as an independent, sovereign democratic country. He's failed, and that's not going to change." The Pentagon official went on saying that Ukraine will maintain its status as a sovereign, autonomous, and democratic nation.

Kahl said that going forward, Ukraine can count on a lot of assistance from both sides of the aisle, but the form that help takes and the nature of Ukraine's military demands may shift. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted in his nightly address that the significantly less news from the frontlines "does not indicate less severe fighting."

In his nightly address, per The Kyiv Independent, Zelensky said the scenario is challenging on every front. There is still fierce positional warfare going on in several regions, and Donetsk Oblast is one of the worst.

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White House Confirms US-Russia Discussion Over Nuclear Weapons

Zelensky also mentioned in his message that Ukrainian forces were operating "carefully, thoroughly," and in the interests of liberating our entire territory" in the southern Kherson region.

"We are strengthening our positions, breaking Russian logistics, and continually degrading the potential of the invaders to maintain the south of our nation in occupation," Volodymyr Zelensky stated in his address, posted on his Telegram Channel.

Zelensky added that Russian soldiers incur huge losses but still strive to approach Donetsk Oblast's administrative boundary. No part of our land there is surrendered by us in any way. He also extended his thank you to Ukrainian "heroes" stationed in Donbas in the Russia Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States had recently spoken to the Kremlin to reduce the rhetoric surrounding the use of nuclear weapons.

Speaking at an event at the Economic Club of New York on Monday, Sullivan did not say he had been engaged in direct talks but noted he had said repeatedly that "we have channels to communicate with the Russian Federation at senior levels," as reported by CNBC.

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