Pentagon Says Sanctions Nearly Stall Russian Offensive in Ukraine

Export controls that have been imposed on Moscow by the United States, partners and allies around the world are "just now starting to have an effect," a senior U.S.. defense official told reporters on Friday, ticking off a list that included:

— Major Russian state-owned companies have lost 70-90% of their market capitalization

— Around 1,000 multinational companies have suspended operations in Russia.

— Inflation in Russia is rising up to 20%.

— The Russian stock market has lost a third of its value.

"This is just the beginning of the impact of these sanctions," the official emphasized, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

For the Pentagon's assessment, Russia is 'failing' on the battlefield and suffering domestic failures at home.

Fighting continues in the east and south of Ukraine as Russian advances slow to a crawl, grind to a halt in some places, or are slowly reversed in areas like Kherson, while the Ukrainians have become very effective in finding and killing Russian command and control nodes and destroying swaths of Russian materiel, the official said.

"Even as Russia is talking the big talk, even as Russia is menacing the Ukrainian population, the Ukrainians continue to bravely advance. They're making tremendous use of the $8.2 billion in equipment we've provided, thus far," the official said.

The menace to Ukrainian civilians includes air strikes in the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and near Kyiv over the past week, according to the official.

As for military support to Kyiv, the Pentagon is consulting closely with Ukraine’s ministry of defense to ensure materiel, including ammunition, that they need is forthcoming, and is putting together another security assistance package that will address those needs, the official said.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.