November 2022 — MHCE Newsletter

WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 9
preliminary probe of the incident showed the errant
missiles were likely a Russian-made S-300 air defense
round fired by Ukraine during the Russian assault.
Echoing a statement from the White House’s National
Security Council issued earlier Wednesday, Austin said
the Pentagon had no information to contradict the initial
Polish findings. He said he was confident in the Poles’
ongoing probe, which included the help of U.S. officials
on the ground at the blast site.
“Whatever the final conclusions may be, the world
knows that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for this
incident,” Austin warned. “This tragic and troubling
incident is yet another reminder of the recklessness of
Russia's war of choice. And Ukraine has a bedrock right
to defend itself.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile,
denied Wednesday that his country’s air defense
weapons were responsible for the incident. He asked
for evidence to support Poland’s initial findings and
demanded his officials be involved in the investigation.
Austin appeared to welcome Ukrainian assistance in the
probe.
Milley also said his staff made unsuccessful attempts
Tuesday after the incident to reach his Russian
counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of
Russia’s General Staff. Milley did speak with top
generals from Ukraine, Poland and other NATO nations
by phone Tuesday evening, he said.
Milley and Austin pledged to continue arming Ukraine
and bolstering NATO’s eastern flank for however long it
is necessary. To date, the United States has increased its
troops in Europe by about 20,000 and sent some $18.6
billion in weapons and supplies to Ukraine since just
before the Russian invasion.
Among the key difference-makers in the fight have
been the U.S.- and NATO-supplied High Mobility
Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which have
allowed Ukrainian forces to strike Russian command
and logistics nodes deep behind front lines. Austin said
another potential game-changing weapons system had
begun operating in Ukraine — U.S.-supplied shortrange
air defense systems known as NASAMS, or
National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems.
The NASAMS, which are designed to shoot down
incoming ballistic missiles, fighter jets and drones,
have hit 100% of the Russian missiles at which they
have been fired, Austin said, labeling their performance
“very impressive.”
Milley warned the war was unlikely to end anytime
soon, even as the Russians have faced one defeat after
another, including the loss of key southern port-city
Kherson in recent days.
The general said the winter cold could force some
slowdown to tactical operations, but the Russians
appeared poised to continue fighting even amid
“staggering losses” of critical weapons systems —
tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters and fighter jets,
among them — and troops, which have left Russia’s
military “really hurting bad.”
Milley last week estimated Russia and Ukraine had
each suffered “well over” 100,000 combat deaths and
injuries during the war.
“Russia could end this war today. Russia could put an
end to it right now,” Milley said. “But they won’t. They
are going to continue the fight. They’re going to continue
that fight into the winter, as best as we can tell, and we,
the United States … will continue to support Ukraine
for as long as it takes to keep them free, sovereign,
independent and with their territory intact.”
Austin, a former four-star general, encouraged the
Ukrainians to continue their advances in the south and
the east even amid the impending cold, saying it would
be “a mistake” to allow Russian troops to “rest, refit and
rearm.”
“I don't believe they're going to make that mistake,”
the defense secretary said. “And my goal is to make
sure that they have the [military] means to do what's
necessary to ensure that they don't hold up.”