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Hey, good morning, playbookers.

I'm Rugu Minovalin.

It's Monday.

In today's show, the ongoing war in Ukraine and what to look for from Congress,

it's your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

Russia answers resistance with firepower.

That quote comes from the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, who's in Kiev now and covered the conflicts

in Chechnya and Syria.

Quote, rather than sending men to fight from house to house and room to room, their military

doctrine calls for a bombardment by heavy weapons and from the air to destroy their enemies.

He added, quote, the depressing conclusion I've drawn from other wars,

in which I've seen Russians in action, is that it could get much worse. On Sunday evening,

a senior Pentagon official sent playbook an update on the Russian military campaign, the headline.

While the Russians try to encircle and choke off major cities in the north and the east,

they quote, are being met with strong Ukrainian resistance, some other highlights. Russian forces are nearly all in. The litter notes that

Russians have now committed inside Ukraine somewhere near 95% of the combat power they had amassed

along the border. But they remained stuck, quote, there does not appear to be any significant movement

along the Russian axes. Leaning elements remain outside these city centers, the convoy continues to be stalled.

Russia still doesn't have air superiority, and they don't seem close to achieving it.

Also, Ukrainians remain connected to the outside world.

Quote, we believe the Ukrainian people in most parts of the country still have means of communication,

...