The Russian military has retreated more than 30 kilometers east of Kiev in the past 24 hours and has begun setting up defense positions on various fronts in Ukraine, a senior US Department of Defense official said on Wednesday.
“The Ukrainians managed to repel the Russians 55 kilometers east and northeast of Kiev,” the official told the press, speaking on condition of anonymity. On Tuesday, the Pentagon also estimated that Russian forces were 15 to 20 kilometers from the center of the Ukrainian capital.
“We are beginning to see that they are retreating and setting up defensive positions. It is not that they do not advance, it is that they do not try to advance. “They are taking defensive positions.”
Russian forces also remain in a quagmire 10 kilometers from the center of Chernigiv, northwest of Kiev, according to Pentagon estimates.
In this zone, “they are losing ground, moving in the opposite direction, but not much,” according to the official.
In Kharkov, to the east, where heavy fighting continues, Russian forces are still 15 to 20 kilometers from the city center and face “very strong” resistance from the Ukrainians.
According to the US Department of Defense official, the Russian army now seems to give priority to the pro-Russian separatist areas, in Lugansk and Danieck, to the east. They are devoting “much more energy to the Lugansk / Danieck region, especially around Lugansk,” he said.
“We believe that they are trying to immobilize the Ukrainian forces” that have been deployed since 2014 along the front line with the separatist areas “so that they can not be used elsewhere,” he explained.
To the south, the Pentagon says the Russian Navy is using the port of Berdyansk in the Sea of ​​Azov for supplies. Berdyansk is one of the few cities that the Russians were able to occupy on the 28th day of their attack.
The US Department of Defense does not see any change around Odessa. While several missiles were fired at Russian positions in Odessa earlier this week, this did not happen again on Tuesday or Wednesday, the US official said.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
