months of russian s brutal war in ukraine. the cost of this war difficult to measure. there are the military costs, the billions of dollars spent, the military, the lives lost, the refugees forced from their homes, the disruption to daily lives for ukrainians living in the shadow of putin s war, not to mention the spike in food and energy costs, and these costs all continue to mount. this week, the u.s. pledged nearly $3 billion in additional security aid to ukraine. this comes as putin decreed in the size of the military as well. after half a year of war, what would it bring to bring this conflict to a close? i want to speak to john kirby now. admiral kirby, thank you for taking the time to be with us this morning. let s begin with the state of the war a half a year in. the u.s. has given its biggest military package so far, and you increasingly hear from ukrainians about not defending ground or defending territory, but we re seeing them attack from behind lines and even tal
there are the military costs, the billions of dollars spent, the cities destroyed and the territories seized. the military, the lives lost, the refugees forced from their homes, the disruption to daily lives for ukrainians living in the shadow of putin s war, not to mention the spike in food and and energy costs beyond the theater of war, and these costs all continue to mount. this week, the u.s. pledged nearly $3 billion in additional security aid to ukraine. this comes as putin decreed in the size of the military as well. after half a year of war, what would it bring to bring this conflict to a close? i want to speak to john kirby now. admiral kirby, thank you for taking the time to be with us this morning. great to be with you, jim. first let s begin with the state of the war a half year in. the u.s. has given its biggest military package so far, and you increasingly hear from ukrainians not just about defending ground or defending territory, but we re seeing them atta
the war a half a year in. the u.s. has given its biggest military package so far, and you increasingly hear from ukrainians about not defending ground or defending territory, but we re seeing them attack from behind lines and even talk about gang back territory that has been previously gained by russian. how has it fundamentally changed to ukraine s favor? i think what you re seeing is a fight from the donbass all the way down to the south of ukraine, and the ukrainian and russian forces continue to actually trade territory back and forth. but what you said at the outset is so right. even from the very first weeks of this war, ukrainians have not been satisfied to defend territory, but to try to win back some of the territory the russians have gained. and the fight in the donbass is
ukrainians not just about defending ground or defending territory, but we re seeing them attack from behind lines and even talk about gang back territory that has been previously gained by russian. how has it fundamentally changed to ukraine s favor? i think what you re seeing is a fight from the donbass all the way down to the south of ukraine near kherson. and the ukrainian and russian forces continue to actually trade territory back and forth. but what you said at the outset is so right. even from the very first weeks of this war, ukrainians have not been satisfied to defend territory, but to try to win back some of the territory the russians have gained. and the fight in the donbass is a one of miles. sometimes it s block by block where russian force let s take a certain part of the city, and ukrainian forces will take it back.