All Russian troops have withdrawn from Kyiv and the surrounding area, Pentagon officials said Wednesday, capping a stunning defeat for the Russian military as it abandons its goal of capturing the Ukrainian capital and overthrowing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A senior defense official told reporters Wednesday that the latest U.S. assessment is that all Russian forces have left Kyiv and also have withdrawn from the city of Chernihiv, north of the capital. Some of those troops have moved back across the Russia-Ukraine border, while others have fled to Belarus, the defense official told reporters on a conference call.
“We are assessing that all the Russians have left,” the official said.
The Kremlin said last week it was adjusting its battle plan in Ukraine and would instead focus its resources on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. That announcement came after a series of tactical and strategic missteps by the Russian military in its quest to take Kyiv. Russian forces met strong resistance from Ukrainian troops armed with American anti-tank missiles, drones and other weaponry.
Wednesday’s Pentagon assessment marks the first formal confirmation by the U.S. that Russian forces have indeed given up on their campaign in Kyiv.
But those forces will likely continue the fight elsewhere in Ukraine.
“We have now seen the Russians have moved from the north [of Ukraine] into Belarus and into Russia for refit and resupply,” the defense official said. “We have seen indications that that refit and resupply is occurring.”
Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol remains “isolated” from the rest of the country, the official said, but has not been secured by Russian troops.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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