Ned Price: ‘No question’ Putin Exacting Brutality, Death, Destruction Across Ukraine

Russian missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday, which took out critical infrastructure in several cities and left 80 percent of Kyiv without water supplies, sparked concerns in Washington, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

“Ukraine has been able to defend against some of these attacks, but damage to the electric grid and water supply are serious concerns directly harming the civilian population,” a senior U.S. defense official told reporters, addiong that Russia "contines its campaign of terror attacks."

Asked by TURAN's Washington correspondent whether the U.S. was ready to to call out Russia for terrorizing Ukrainian people, State Department's spokespeson Ned Price said during daily press briefing that "there is no question" Putin is "exacting brutality, death, destruction" across Ukraine.

"There are and we’ve all seen a number of strikes and bombardments that appear to be nothing more than an effort to brutalize the people of Ukraine," he said.

Price also accused Russia of extortion at the expense of the developing world after it demanded Ukrainian security guarantees on its Crimea fleet for preserving a secure corridor to export grain. He voiced alarm that global food prices have already risen because of uncertainty over the grain initiative, which had been negotiated by the UN and Turkey.

If Moscow does not resume its cooperation, Price said hinting at the upcoming G20 leader’ summit, "it is quite likely that countries around the world will voice their condemnation, criticism, and they have every right to do that, because Russia would be exacting a toll on the rest of the world."

"This is not a toll that is unique to Ukraine. This is a toll on the rest of the world, and Russia would hear about it from the rest of the world," Price added.

On the military front, Washington is working with Kyiv, allies and partners to improve Ukraine's defenses, according to Pentagon officials. The U.S. has already provided 1,400 Stinger short-range air defense weapons. Allies and partners have also provided short-range air defense.

The U.S. has committed to sending 8 NASAMs to Ukraine. 2 of those systems are being sent in the next few weeks with the others following. Ukrainian soldiers are already being trained to use the system, which shoots many different missiles. NASAMs can defend against a wide range of airborne threats.

"We also have committed to a suite of counter unmanned aerial systems, including the Vampire system and other radar systems," senior defence officials said.

And more is being done. "The U.S. also helped support Slovakia's donation of an S-300 system earlier in the war," the official said. "This was incredibly important to protect Ukrainian infrastructure at that point in time, and the U.S. also sourced many spare parts to keep Ukraine's Soviet-type air defense systems up and running."

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.