US official: Russia is establishing defensive positions on the Ukrainian fronts
An official in the US Department of Defense confirmed that Russian forces have been kept at bay approximately 20 to 30 kilometers from the center of the capital city.
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that a senior Pentagon official, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the Russian troops have been stalled 12 to 15 kilometers north of the city are “digging in” and establishing defensive positions, adding that the Ukraine’s military forces have pushed back Russian forces east of Kyiv to 55 kilometers from the city center.
The official pointed out that the importance of the issue is not that the Russian forces did not advance, but that they took defensive positions in Ukraine as concentration points.
The Russian forces are 10 kilometers from the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, and an estimated distance between 15 and 20 kilometers from the city of Kharkiv, which is the second largest Ukrainian city, amid “strong resistance” by the Ukrainians, according to the official.
On the situation of the pro-Moscow separatis of Luhansk and Donetsk areas in eastern Ukraine, he noted, “They are spreading much more energy in the Luhansk and Donetsk areas, especially around Luhansk,” adding, “We believe that they are trying to install Ukrainian forces” deployed along the front line with the regions. Separatism is “in place so it cannot be used elsewhere”.
On the southern fronts in Ukraine, the official confirmed that Russia is using the port of Berdyansk, located on the Sea of Azov, to provide supplies and fuel.
As for the city of Berdyansk, he said that it was one of the few cities that the Russian forces managed to control on the twenty-eighth day of their attack on Ukraine.
