Russian Forces Withdraw From Kyiv, Chernihiv

Russia has withdrawn its forces from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, as well as from the northern city of Chernihiv, possibly in order to step up offensives in the eastern part of the country.

On Wednesday, 6 April, an anonymous, senior defence official from the Pentagon in the United States declared Russia’s withdrawal from the two aforementioned cities as the war enters its sixth week.

“The Ukrainians are being somewhat careful in some areas north of Kyiv,” the official explained, “as they begin to clear the ground and clear the territory and reoccupy it, because they have to be, but … we are assessing that all of the Russians have left.

“We have now seen that the Russians have moved from the north into Belarus and to Russia for refit and resupply. We have seen indications that refit and resupply is occurring, but I don’t have anything to report with respect to a redeployment of those units into Ukraine.”

According to political think tanks, these forces “will not likely regain combat effectiveness for some time”, due to low morale and suffering heavy losses in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon will focus its efforts on bolstering the resistance’s defences should Russian forces ever make their presence explicitly known in eastern Ukraine.