those civilians are basically encircled by russian forces. they continue the struggle, but it seems from the way the russian army is behaving in mariupol, that they decided to erase the city. at any cost. today, the pentagon announced that the united states expects to start training ukrainian trainers on how to use heavy artillery weapons known as howitzers in the coming days outside of ukraine. the defense department secretary john kirby said this today, there s been heavy fighting in the last couple of days, and on bus particularly. we have also seen the russians move in elements to help them sustain that kind of fighting. so command and control enablers, helicopter support, some additional artillery. so the russians are clearly trying to continue to shape that environment, said the conditions so that they can conduct longer term military
from ukrainian military officials that there are some signs of russian offensive in the east is already beginning. what are you seeing from russian forces in kharkiv, donetsk, those areas. in kharkiv, russians forces are outside the city, around it, now kharkiv is becoming victim now to more artillery and strikes over the last few days. we have seen that for sure, but in the donbas, it s important to remember, andrea, this is an area of ukraine that has seen heavy fighting for the last eight years. it s been a hot war in the donbas, but we have seen some heavy fighting south of town called isyium, and certainly in areas near a town called popasna, so there s been some heavy fighting in the last couple of days in the donbas particularly, and we have also seen the russians move in elements to help them sustain that kind of fighting. so command and control enablers, helicopter support, some additional artillery, so the russians are clearly trying to
this is all indications we re kind of getting as you read into the news that continues to emerge out of there, it feels like it s just the last moments of being able to hold on in that city. yeah. awful reports coming out of there. th thank you. let s go to the pentagon. that s artillery, rotary, aviation, helicopter support, command and control enablers and we do believe that they have reenforced the number of battalion tactical groups in the east and the south of ukraine. we can t say specifically where all these battalions, these tactical groups are going but we have seen over the last few days they ve added now more than 10 to what they already had there in that part of the country. separate an distinct from that,
column of vehicles. and i won t get ahead of the ukrainians or what they re going to do on the ground, but no, they don t have to sit and wait. they have the capabilities available to them. it s just a matter of what their battle plan is. and again, i don t want to speak for them. we haven t seen resupply or refit efforts of a quantity like we saw in the north just yet. we are seeing a convoy of vehicles coming down from the north, from russia down towards that town of isium. we assess it s north of there and hasn t made a lot of progress but it s full of command and control elements, enablers, maybe some helicopter support. clearly what the russians are doing is shaping, trying to set the conditions for success in the donbas for future more extensive operations. you re expecting a different kind of fighting, we all are, in eastern ukraine that s right. than we saw earlier around kyiv. the land is freer of woods and is more clear. how will the new supplies of