A senior U.S. military official said the U.S. believes Russia's stocks of new or "fully serviceable" artillery rocket ammunition will last until "early 2023."
The official, who spoke to Pentagon reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations in Ukraine, said Russia was turning to the use of degraded ammunition, which is more unpredictable and risky. The official said Russia will likely struggle to replenish its stocks by increasing domestic production, buying more from foreign suppliers and refurbishing older ammunition.
Britain imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 12 more Russian senior military figures it links to the infrastructure attacks in Ukraine.
They include commanders of the strategic missile and airborne forces, and other officials in charge of missile and drone units. The Foreign Office also announced restrictions on three Iranians and a company allegedly involved in supplying explosive drones to Russia.
On the battle field in Ukraine, fighting that caused casualties and damage raged in the eastern city of Kupiansk, northeastern Ukraine's Sumy region, towns neighboring the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the southern Kherson region.
The governor of the Luhansk region, north of Donetsk, said the Ukrainian army was edging closer to a key Russian defense line between the towns of Kreminna and Svatove.
Ukraine's private electricity provider DTEK reported restoring power to close to 80,000 households in eastern Ukraine over the past week. Oleksandr Fomenko, the head of DTEK Grids, said workers have restored electricity to some homes at least five times due to recurring Russian strikes. State power company Ukrenergo said strong winds, frost, snow and ice on power lines were hampering repairs.
Belarus began an unscheduled "emergency check" of its army's combat readiness, its defense ministry said. The announcement raised fears that Minsk, Moscow's longtime and dependent ally, might directly enter the war in neighboring Ukraine. The Belarusian monitoring group Belaruskyi Hayun claims Russian troops inside Belarus have been moving equipment closer to the Ukrainian border.
