US has ‘learnt a lot about Russian leadership’ from Ukraine conflict, defence chief says

Lloyd Austin tells Congress that Washington hopes Ukraine will regain its sovereignty and be able to protect itself by the end of the war

Both US Secretary of Defence, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley committed to providing Ukraine with the assistance and training it needs. The Washington Post / Bloomberg

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US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told Congress on Tuesday that Washington has acquired useful operational information about Russian military tactics during its invasion of Ukraine.

“We have learnt a lot about Russian leadership at the lower levels,” Mr Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The US defence chief pointed to a number of mishaps that Russia has experienced during the invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, and how it has given insight into Moscow's military organisation.

“We saw them fail to integrate aerial fire with their ground manoeuvres in just a number of missteps … I attribute a lot of that to lack of leadership at the lower level,” he said.

And when the lower-level leadership failed, a high cost was paid by senior Russian officers, he said.

“We saw Russia push its senior officers forward as a result of that and many of those were killed from being forward on a battlefield.”

Asked if these setbacks could be reversed if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to make a formal declaration of war or call for a general mobilisation, Mr Austin said it would be contingent on the battlefield readiness of the new troops.

A woman rescues some of her belongings from her house in Irpin, near Kyiv, which was nearly completely destroyed by Russian bombing in late March. AP

A driver helps a woman board a bus at a reception centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. AP

People fleeing Mariupol's Azovstal plant arrive on buses at a registration and processing area for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AFP

A woman stands next to her home in Irpin, near Kyiv, after it was nearly completely destroyed by Russian bombing. AP

People hold banners and shout slogans during a demonstration in support of Mariupol defenders in Kyiv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A woman stands near her house that was destroyed by shelling in Sloboda, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. Reuters

A mother and child in Lviv, Ukraine, wait to board transport destined for Przemysl, Poland. Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claps as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv via videolink. Reuters

Firefighters work to extinguish flames after a Russian bombardment at a park in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

The television tower is illuminated in the national colors of the Ukrainian flag to show solidarity with the country at the Olympic Park in Munich, southern Germany. AFP

Flooded gardens and fields are shown in Demydiv, Ukraine. To keep Russian armoured columns at bay, Ukrainian forces released water from a nearby hydroelectric dam to intentionally flood Demydiv, a village north of Kyiv. The decision was effective, but efforts to drain the area are complicated. Getty Images

A damaged Orthodox icon is seen in the corner of local resident Yurii's heavily damaged house in Fenevychi, Ukraine. Getty Images

Valentyna, 71, stands by her cat, who was injured in the fighting, in Fenevychi. Getty Images

Yurii, 53, stands in his heavily damaged house in Fenevychi. Getty Images

Evacuees from the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman, which has suffered heavy shelling, ride on a bus in Raihorodok. AFP

A man delivers loaves of bread to a woman in the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman. AFP

Nazar, right, boards a bulletproof bus to evacuate with his family from the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman. AFP

A dog chases a hare by the wall of a burnt house in Fenevychi. Getty Images

Nine-year-old Galina, right, and Nazar, 8, arrive with their families in Raihorodok. AFP

Natalia Pototska, 43, cries as her grandson Matviy looks on in Zaporizhzhia. AP

Hryhorii, a member of the Ukrainian military meets his wife Oksana, who fled from the Russian-occupied Novomykhailivka village, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod to Kyiv. Reuters

Buildings destroyed by Russian shelling in Borodianka, in Ukraine's Kyiv region. Reuters

Volunteers carry an elderly woman in a blanket during the evacuation of a frontline village retaken by Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv. Reuters

A Ukrainian man walks past the turret of a Russian tank next to a destroyed petrol station in the village of Skybyn, north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Andrii Fedorov hugs his son Makar as they are reunited in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, after the boy and his mother fled besieged Mariupol. AP

Volunteers at the Help Ukraine Center in Lublin, south-eastern Poland. More than 3 million Ukrainian refugees are now in Poland. EPA

Police officers deliver loaves of bread to residents in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, which is being heavily shelled. AFP

Savelii, 10, mourns at the grave of his father, who died protecting his city as a member of the Territorial Defence, in Irpin, Ukraine. EPA

Ukrainian soliders ride on a truck to a resting place after fighting in the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP

A shopkeeper clears shelves before closing up in Sviatohirsk, eastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion. AFP

Civilians who left the area near Azovstal steel plant as part of an evacuation of Mariupol arrive at temporary accommodation in Bezimenne, Donetsk region. Reuters

Azovstal steel plant employee Valeria, who was part of an evacuation of Mariupol, hugs her son Matvey, who had earlier left the city with his relatives, as they meet again in Bezimenne, Donetsk. Reuters

A pro-Russian troop stands guard in Bezimenne, Donetsk. Reuters

A picture taken during a visit to Mariupol organised by the Russian military shows Russian serviceman on patrol outside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Enerhodar, south-eastern Ukraine. EPA

A woman is assisted during the UN-led evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant, after nearly two months of siege warfare on Mariupol by Russia. Reuters

Civilians gather for humanitarian aid, distributed by the Donetsk People Republic Emergency Situations Ministry in Berdyansk, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian servicemen are seen near a T-80 tank captured from Russian troops in Kharkiv region. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier takes a break from the conflict and tries to pet a stork in Barvinkove, Kharkiv region. Reuters

A satellite image shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

The US defence chief defined the end goal in Ukraine as one that preserves the country’s sovereignty.

“We hope that at the end of this that Ukraine will be a sovereign state with a functioning government that can protect its territory.”

Mr Austin said when it will end rests with a singular soul.

“This is a war of choice … this is the decision of one man,” he told Congress.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, speaking at same hearing, said Russian troops are taking orders from the highest in command.

“The Russians are practicing a top-down, very, very top-heavy directive in nature, sort of settled orders coming from the top, which is not necessarily the best thing to do in a dynamic battlefield,” Gen Milley said.

He also rejected the idea that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last August had exposed America's weaknesses and prompted Mr Putin to invade Ukraine.

“I think President Putin made his decision to invade Ukraine long before we pulled out of Afghanistan,” he said.

Both Mr Austin and Gen Milley committed to providing Ukraine with the assistance and training it needs, with the US defence chief saying Ukraine is already using a number of howitzer cannons that Washington has provided in the last few weeks.