The first observation is that even though we continue to see Russia fail — fail on the battlefield, pay a high price for very little gain, and suffer from domestic failures at home, I was really struck this week by how the Russian rhetoric was trying to cover up those losses, and what we saw was really very expansive rhetoric coming out of Moscow. Some examples of this — we heard Foreign Minister Lavrov reverse his administration’s previous denials that they are seeking regime change in Kyiv and — and he talked this week about getting rid of the regime in Kyiv. We also saw former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev post a map on his Telegram channel depicting a Ukraine that has been swallowed up by Russia and its neighbors, leaving only a piece of the country in Kyiv Oblast. And even as we heard this really imperialist rhetoric, we learned more about how (inaudible) Russia is in the areas of Ukraine that it owns. The National Intelligence Council released a chilling report that described at least 18 so-called infiltration camps where Ukrainians are subjected to inhumane conditions, including abuse and, in some cases, execution. So I’ll conclude by, you know, emphasizing that even though Russia talks a lot, even as Russia threatens the Ukrainian population, the Ukrainians continue to march forward bravely, making tremendous use of the $8.2 billion in equipment that we’ve provided so far . Now, today, I don’t have a security assistance announcement for you, but I can say that we are working very hard and consulting closely with our counterparts in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and we will prepare another assistance package soon to ensure that the Ukrainians have the ammunition which they need for their struggle in the east and now also in the south. And with that, I’ll hand it over [Senior Military Official]. SENIOR MILITARY: Thank you, [SDO]. First of all, good evening everyone. I’m glad to be back with you on the 156th day of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Like [SDO], I don’t have a very large type of initial comments. I would — you know, sure, you’re all watching the missile strikes out of Kyiv during the week, and I know you’re hitting — you’re watching the missile strikes in Odessa, even in the midst of — you know, the world’s effort to move the grains. I would like to point out, and you all mentioned the advances that the Ukrainians are making around the Kherson — and we’ve seen — and they’re not big, gigantic advances, but they’re certainly advances against the Russians. There was one other comment I was going to make, and of course, I forgot what it was, so I’m going to — I’m going to stop right there and I’m — I’m ready (inaudible) to answer any questions that you may have. STAFF: Thank you, sir. Okay, first, I have Dan De Luce from NBC. Q: Could I — yes, thank you. I just wanted to ask, can you report or give any description of the strength of the Russian forces in the south, around Kherson, and to what extent are they sending additional troops or resources? And could you say what the scale of this aid is? SENIOR SOLDIER: Hey, Dan, I don’t have — I don’t have the size details. We have — like you, heard about the Russians moving forces. It would make sense, from a military point of view, as I mentioned before, you know, the Ukrainians are giving it their all and I think they’re looking for ways to amplify, you know, their failures here. STAFF: Thanks, Dan. Ellee Watson, CBS; Q: Hi, thanks. To clear this up, can you update us on the claims from both Ukraine and Russia that the other side attacked this prison with prisoners of war — Ukrainian prisoners of war? And then I also have a question about where are the Russian replacements getting their losses right now? Do they have a lot of capacity in Russia available to draw on? And lastly, do you have any update on NASAMS, when will NASAMS be in Ukraine? SENIOR SOLDIER: Well, Elle, I’ll — let me go through your first two and then I’ll give it to you [SDO] in the last. When it comes to POWs, we — again, we are — hearing the same reports as you. I guess what I would tell you is that I don’t have any definitive information as far as, you know, what specifically happened. I would ask, you know, as you all see it, that we pay some attention especially to what the Russians are telling us, just because we know that they’ve made a number of claims in the past that have been almost entirely incorrect. So I’ll leave it at that. On the surrogates, you all brought this up a few weeks ago and the ways in which the — I think someone called it “the” — gosh, I don’t know, “covert mobilization,” that sort of thing. And I forget which magazine it was. I don’t know if people still say “magazines”? Anyway, I forget who it was, but you talked about the fact that Putin had found ways to get more soldiers in uniform. We know he pays people. We know he’s getting contract soldiers to stay who otherwise wouldn’t. You know, they’re — they have laws like we do about mobilization. And he was very specific, you know, with what he called this in terms of, you know, the — he didn’t call it an all-out war. But we know he’s finding ways to attract people who will move, to include veterans who have been called back to active duty, reservists who have been called back to active duty. And as a result I think what we’re seeing is that their effectiveness on the battlefield in many cases is very poor. You put people in, you know, tanks. I don’t know where I saw the video, but there was a video of a Russian tank driving around in circles. And it turned out that the driver was not trained. He didn’t know how to drive the tank. It wasn’t because they were having fun in the tank. So I think they’re having trouble trying to figure this out. You know, here’s the other thing I was going to tell you. You know, I certainly don’t have their particular victims. And I’ll refer you to the Russians and the Ukrainians for casualty numbers. But whatever the casualty figures are for the Russians, you know, depending on the left and the right that people are reporting, it’s very significant. And when you look at the number of people they lost, it’s impossible to believe that they don’t have to find ways to replace them if they want to continue to look like Ukrainians. SENIOR COUNSEL: Thank you. And Ellee, I don’t have a delivery date for you at NASAMS. STAFF: Thank you, Elli. Luis Martinez, ABC. Hi Luis, are you there? Q: Yes, I’m here. Sorry, I couldn’t find the right buttons. Thanks everyone for this update. As we move into this now, this fifth month, how much longer can this go on in the Donbas in the north with so little incremental gains? And once you move to the left there, in Kherson, do you see any real signs that the Kherson counteroffensive that the Ukrainians have been talking about is actually happening? Are these bridge attacks shaping businesses? Is Kherson really cut off from the rest of Crimea? Thanks. SENIOR SOLDIER: Well, Louis, I would — and I think I’ve said this before, but I would — I would really hesitate to give any thoughts on how long this might take. And I would go back, you know, in February, when everybody basically said that — to include us in some cases, that this wasn’t going to last long. You know, we had the full force of the Russian military deployed on almost every side of Ukraine — Ukraine. And here we are five months and, you know, a giant strategic failure on the part of the Russians where they had to redeploy their people from the north around the east to try to make some gains. And those gains, as you saw, were relatively small at a huge cost. So I would really hesitate to give you an idea of ​​how long this lasts. It certainly looks like it will last as, you know, the Ukrainians are able to go toe to toe. So going back to Kherson, I don’t know if it’s part of a counter-offensive. I know they are making aggressive gains. And they’re doing it, you know, against a Russian force that, as we said earlier, seems to be ill-prepared for it. So anyway, I’ll leave it at that, Luis. STAFF: Thanks, Luis. Tom Bowman, NPR; Q: Yeah, can you talk a little bit more about what we’re seeing in the east, where the Russians are moving, where are they hunting? Any — more details… (CROSSTALK) … for Senior Military, of course. SENIOR SOLDIER: I’d give it to that [SDO]Vol. Yes. (LAUGH) SENIOR SOLDIER: Well, we — we’re — I don’t want to say it’s a complete deadlock because that would be inaccurate. There are gains on both sides, but very — back and forth, very small. You know, we were talking — and — and so I’ll go back — I think it was probably three or four weeks ago — actually, it was probably the first time I did one of those presses, we were talking about Severodonetsk, and I had mentioned to you that, you know, it was — the Ukrainians were withdrawing but they were withdrawing in a way that I thought we would probably study. You know, they’ve gotten to a point now and they’ve — they’ve built a level of defense that really has the Russians at a standstill, they’ve stopped. There are probably many reasons for this. You know, we reported morale, we reported casualties. These are…