Pro-Russian troops in uniform without insignia stand next to an armored personnel carrier with the letter “Z” painted on the side in the separatist-controlled village of Bugas during the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in the Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6. 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
WASHINGTON — Almost all of the troops that Russia has amassed on the border with Ukraine are now fighting inside the country, a senior Pentagon official said Monday.
President Joe Biden has previously said that Russia has deployed about 190,000 troops outside of Ukraine.
Still, even with this much manpower, the two main Russian convoys outside Ukraine’s major cities, Kharkiv and Kyiv, remain at a standstill, the official said, according to NBC News.
The invading Russian forces struggled to overcome the weak logistics system, leaving dozens of Russian tanks and trucks stranded in eastern and central Ukraine after the vehicles broke down or ran out of gas.
The United States will deploy another 500 troops to Europe, bringing the total number of US troops on the continent to over 100,000, a senior Defense Department official said.
In recent weeks, thousands of these troops have taken up positions in countries on NATO’s eastern flank, including in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
However, logistical problems on the ground have not stopped Russia from bombarding Ukraine with heavy artillery. To date, the official said Monday that Russian forces have fired more than 625 missiles at Ukrainian targets.
This is an evolving story, please stay tuned.
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