Pentagon warns of possible stalemate in Russia’s war with Ukraine: Bloomberg

The Pentagon’s intelligence agency concluded that neither Ukraine nor Russia currently have sufficient military resources to conduct large-scale offensive operations, which could lead to a stalemate in the conflict. This is reported Bloomberg, citing the Pentagon’s findings.
According to the report, Ukraine still does not possess enough ammunition to match Russia’s ability to produce about 10,000 artillery shells per day, even after the US Congress approved a new military aid package in April.
The Pentagon also notes that Ukrainian forces are capable of conducting defensive operations, but will not be able to launch a large-scale counteroffensive for at least the next six months.
Russia, for its part, follows the strategy of exhausting Ukrainian forces and will be able to maintain control over the buffer zone that its troops have captured. However, it does not have enough strength to significantly advance deep into the territory of Ukraine, for example, in the direction of the city of Kharkiv.
According to Bloomberg, these findings are contained in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s latest quarterly report on US aid to Ukraine. The report covers the period through June 30, after Congress passed the latest $61 billion relief package.
Since then, Ukraine launched a surprise operation in Russia’s Kursk region and began using F-16 fighter jets obtained from Western partners.
The report also notes Ukraine’s successful use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles. In particular, one of these strikes on May 18 on Sevastopol led to the sinking of a Russian corvette, as well as the destruction of several modern S-400 air defense systems in Crimea.
These strikes forced Russian forces to strengthen air defenses in Crimea, deploying S-500 systems that had not previously been used in Ukraine.
The Pentagon believes that this development testifies to Russia’s efforts to ensure adequate air defense of Crimea.