On Wednesday, the Pentagon said that Russian troops had fully withdrawn from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and Chernihiv. However, Russia is preparing to focus its invading soldiers in the eastern region of the country. Moreover, a senior United States defense official said that they evaluated all Russian forces had left the capital. The person said that their full departure was confirmed only in the last twenty-four hours.

The Pentagon official said that Russian troops withdrew from Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv as Russia prepares to focus its military on the country’s eastern part. According to officials, these Russian troops of around forty thousand will likely regroup in Russia and Belarus. pic.twitter.com/9PLbkZnRAQ

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European and United States intelligence officials have been tracking that Moscow is reorientating after combatting violent resistance in northern Ukraine for the last few days. According to New York Times, around forty thousand Russian troops will probably regroup in Russia and Belarus.

Previously on Monday, a senior Pentagon official projected around one-third of Russian troops organized near Kyiv were still present in the area. The Institute or the Study of War (ISW) think tank said Russian military units had mainly completed their withdrawal from the capital by Tuesday. Last week, Russian officials vowed to decrease armed activity near Chernihiv and the Ukrainian capital. Still, American officials described Russian movements as a possible redeployment to eastern Ukraine instead of a retreat.

Russian Forces Advancement Towards Kyiv and Stiffer Resistance from Ukrainian Forces

Around fifteen days ago, Russian armed leaders claimed they would start concentrating on eastern Ukraine, leading some Western and Ukrainian officials to suspect Moscow would finally move forces who struggled to advance outside Kyiv to the east of Ukraine. In addition, the ISW said Wednesday that the military units deployed near the Ukrainian capital still need to be reequipped and will not probably regain fighting effectiveness for some time after experiencing heavy losses and down morale after facing solid Ukrainian resistance.

Russian troops started approaching the Ukrainian capital from many directions instantly after the attack initiated six weeks ago, part of what Western nations took as a strategy to oust Volodymyr Zelensky’s government. However, invading forces stuck in the suburbs of Kyiv failed to capture the capital, as the Ukrainian military fought back to resist Russian forces and Russian soldiers struggled with supply shortages.

A United States official said a group of Russian soldiers also encircled Chernihiv – a city of about three hundred thousand around eighty miles north of the Ukrainian capital – last month. Still, they were not able to move southward toward Kyiv. Last week, after the Russian military retreated from the capital city suburb of Bucha, local officials blamed Russia for carrying out civilian killings.

On the other hand, Russian officials denied executions of civilians and claimed Ukrainian officials staged the killings after recapturing the town. Still, New York Times captured satellite images and found some dead bodies on the streets of Bucha for weeks. United States President Joe Biden and other Western leaders called the Bucha killings war crimes.

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