Ukraine dismissed this as
a pathetic attempt at retaliatio
A Russian bombardment of the por
of Odessa
with drones and long range missi
to warehouse workers were killed
An abandoned hotel
smashed in
what could have been
an almost routine attack by Russ
But for this
Kiev now
claims to have killed
the commander of Russia's
Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Victor
Ukraine says it also killed
another three Russian officers
in the missile strike
against the fleet
headquarters in Sebastopol on Fr
The Ukrainians have targeted
senior Russian officers
throughout this war,
often using intelligence from Na
and specialist
units have been tasked by Kiev
with these killings.
They're aimed at sapping morale
and undermining command systems.
CNN has no independent
confirmation of Ukraine's claim
to have killed Russia's admiral,
but it would be its biggest succ
in this campaign
and part of an ongoing
effort to break through Russia's
defense lines
to ultimately strike at Crimea.
They've included
earlier attacks on Putin's navy
and a bridge to Russia itself.
The first batch of US
donated Abrams tanks
have now also arrived in Ukraine
But they're not the strategic we
The Ukrainians say they need.
A word in your pocket.
And defense packages
from the United States,
including artillery, necessary
shells, high marks, munitions
air defense
missiles, additional air defense
tactical vehicles
and some other types of weapons
that will prove themselves
on the battlefield
and give once these attackers
long range missile systems
to attack deep behind Russian li
to kill more officers
and destroy logistics hubs.
The US has yet to announce
that Ukraine will get these miss
before the winter freezes
over the front lines where they
now.
Of course,
from the Ukrainian perspective,
without air dominance
breaking through,
those defense lines
are extremely difficult.
So a great deal,
Pamela, of their main effort is
on breaking what the military ca
see to the command and control
the discipline of Russian troops
and that's why they want those a
because they believe
that if those missiles can kill
key Russians,
the Russian military
will collapse in
on itself,
sparing bloodshed on both sides.
All right,
Jim Kelly, thanks so much for th
And joining us now from the Whit
the National Security Council
coordinator for strategic commun
John Kirby, Thanks for joining u
So Ukraine, as we know,
as Sam just laid
out, says this Russian attack on
is revenge for Friday's strike o
If Ukraine did, in fact,
kill the commander of Russia's
Black Sea Fleet.
How big of a blow
would that be to Vladimir Putin?
That would be a significant blow
certainly to Russian
naval operations
in the Black Sea area
and they have been very, very ac
for the last 18 months
from the Black Sea
striking inside
Ukraine from ships at sea.
So if you are able to kill
the commander of the fleet
or a lot of his or her staff,
obviously that's going to have
a significant impact on their ab
as Sam says. Right.
In his reporting
to commanding control of that fl
Now, that doesn't mean it's
going to be some sort of permane
fix, Pamela.
They'll replace those people.
Obviously, they'll put a new lea
and the Russian fleet
is not going anywhere.
Out of the Black Sea.
But for a while,
it will have a significant impac
on their ability to operate.
So to follow up on that,
can the US confirm
whether this commander
was in fact,
killed
along with 33
other Russian officers, as Ukrai
No, we cannot.
We've seen the reporting on that
but we're not in a position to
to confirm it.
All right.
So how far did these repeated
the Ukrainian attacks
on occupied Crimea
go in disrupting Russia's fight
on the front lines?
I think it's important.
If you just look at the map
and look geographically,
Crimea is critical
for Russia's efforts
to continue its occupation
north of Crimea,
north of that peninsula,
and then up
the eastern side of the country
into the Donbas,
Crimea, acts
as a bit of a
staging ground,
not just for attacks from the Bl
but also to be able to help repl
and resource
their troops, particularly
in the southern part of Ukraine.
So it makes perfect sense
that Ukraine would want to hit
strategic targets inside Crimea
to try to hamper their ability
to use Crimea as a staging base,
if you will, for supporting thei
further inland.
President Zelenskiy, for his par
says the first American Abrams t
have now arrived in Ukraine.
What does that mean
for the counteroffensive?
This is the first tranche
of the Abrams tanks.
These are very capable armored t
that can have a particularly
significant impact on the battle
But they're only the first tranc
of the more than 30
that the United States
has committed to Ukraine.
There will be more flowing in he
and in coming weeks.
Now, obviously,
it will be up to President
Solecki and his generals to figu
how they use these tanks.
They have other tanks
from other countries that they'r
But in this fight,
in this counteroffensive
where they are making steady
but slow progress,
particularly in the South.
These sophisticated Abrams tanks
They can be
they can be a significant help.
There are also reports that the
will provide Ukraine
with longer range attack missile
Is that the case?
And did President
Biden make that commitment?
When he met with President
Zelensky last week?
No, I don't have any announcemen
on these attack arms.
These are long range cruise miss
to speak to today.
What I can speak to
is the fact
that we are continually in conve
with the Ukrainians about their
including air defense needs.
And as you saw, the president,
when he after he met
with President Zelenskiy
announced yet
another tranche of
security assistance,
some additional arms and equipme
We're going to keep that coming.
All right.
Before we let you go,
I want to ask you
about a potential government shu
the Pentagon has warned
that a government shutdown
could disrupt
the delivery of military aid to
How is the administration planni
to handle that possibility?
We've got a little bit
more funding to go.
So I think we'll be okay
for the next few weeks or so.
But without the supplemental req
that we asked for,
it will absolutely have an effec
on our ability to support Ukrain
well into the fall
and into the winter months.
Pamela?
And look,
I mean, the weather's
not going to be
all that cooperative here soon.
You heard from Sam,
you know, once we get into the w
it gets really hard for both mil
to maneuver and to operate.
And so we want to make sure
that we're getting them
everything they need here
while they still have good condi
On the ground,
not getting that supplemental re
If there's a shutdown,
that's going to have a significa
on their on their ability
to succeed on the battlefield.
Yeah, you talk about the winter.
Ukraine says it's going to keep
through the winter.
What do you think that looks lik
Well,
I think it'll look like last win
unfortunately.
Now we're heading into
another winter of war.
But last winter, both sides,
they did fight. They didn't stop
Nobody just sat down.
But the fighting gets greatly af
by the weather conditions
as it does anywhere around the w
And so it's going to have
an effect on them.
And we want to make sure
that they can take advantage
of the good conditions that they
for as long as they can.
All right, John Kirby, thanks so
You bet.