Russia Trying To Exhaust Ukraine's Air Defenses, Pentagon Official Says

A worker walks past damaged equipment at a high-voltage substation of the operator Ukrenerho after a missile attack in central Ukraine on November 10.

Russia's surge in missile strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv's supplies of air defenses and finally achieve dominance of the skies above the country, a senior Pentagon official has said. Ukraine says the strikes have crippled almost half of its energy system, creating a potential humanitarian disaster as winter sets in. Colin Kahl, the Pentagon's top policy adviser, told reporters on November 19 during a trip to the Middle East that Moscow also hoped to deplete Ukrainian air defenses that have so far prevented the Russian military from establishing dominance of the skies above Ukraine. To read the original Reuters story, click here.