The US Department of Defense has no evidence of the use of hypersonic missiles in the recent Russian attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. He might not confirm the use of such weapons in Odessa, a high-ranking ministry official said in a telephone call to journalists on Tuesday. Airstrikes on Odessa have increased in recent days. Meanwhile, US intelligence services warned of a “protracted” conflict.
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian air force fired Kinzhal-type hypersonic missiles at the southern Ukrainian port on Tuesday night. The US Department official said there was no evidence of an attack on Odessa by ground forces or from the Black Sea. “Odessa is still firmly under Ukrainian control.”
The Ukrainian agency Unian, citing the local military leadership, had reported that at least one person had been killed and five others injured in the night air raids in Odessa. “Ukrayinska Pravda” reported that “tourist objects” were hit and at least five buildings were destroyed.
The US Department official said that since the war began, Russian forces have used hypersonic weapons on 10 to 12 occasions. He emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet achieved his most important goals either in the south or in the Donbass in the east of Ukraine. According to US estimates, Putin is “two weeks or maybe even more” behind schedule.
The US secret services, meanwhile, reckoned with a long-lasting war with the danger of further expansion and escalation. US intelligence coordinator Avril Haines said at a congressional hearing in Washington on Tuesday that Putin was preparing for a “protracted conflict in Ukraine, in which he still wants to achieve goals beyond Donbass.” Putin is determined to create a land connection to the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in the east of the Republic of Moldova.
