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Kyiv continues to be pounded by Russian airstrikes, even as Moscow claims it would withdraw troops from the capital during peace talks with Ukraine, a senior US defense official said Thursday.
Russian defense officials said this week they would move troops from the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to boost “mutual trust” in peace talks with Ukraine.
But the US and Ukraine have expressed extreme skepticism about Russia’s true intentions.
Ukrainian soldiers carry the body of a civilian killed by Russian forces under a destroyed bridge in Irpin near Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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“That’s very beautiful rhetoric,” a senior defense official told reporters Thursday. “But that doesn’t mean Kyiv is less threatened from the air – it continues to be crushed.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that the US estimates that Russia has “repositioned” about 20% of its ground forces around Kyiv.
But Kirby also warned that US security officials believe it is a tactic to “re-equip” those troops with new supplies and reposition them elsewhere in Ukraine.
A senior defense official was unable to confirm Russia’s plan for the Donetsk region amid speculation that Moscow will concentrate its forces in eastern Ukraine after failing to make meaningful progress in other strategic parts of the war-torn nation.
Russian ground forces have been stationed near the capital for weeks after Moscow’s invasion five weeks ago, and Ukrainian forces have made progress pushing back Russian troops from northern and southern cities.
Volunteers and soldiers collect bodies of civilians killed by Russian forces on a destroyed bridge in Irpin near Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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But its inability to make ground advances has meant Russia’s increasing reliance on missile strikes to hit not only military targets but also civilian shelters.
More than 1,400 rockets have been fired since the invasion began, including more than 300 attacks on Wednesday.
The US has pledged more than $2.5 billion in security and humanitarian assistance, but Washington has been criticized for being slow to deploy military defense equipment.
“The pace is not slow,” the senior US security official said on Thursday.
A damaged building is seen amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 14, 2022. (REUTERS/Oleksandr Lapshyn)
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The official said the US had been sending aid to Ukraine at an “unprecedented” speed, citing an announcement earlier this month when President Biden approved $800 million in security aid to Ukraine — the total amount of the Aid provided increased to $2 billion.
“That $800 million was signed on March 16th. The executive order was published the next day, and the first shipment arrived on the 20th. So four days after the President signed it,” the senior defense official said. “It has never been so fast.”
Heavy Russian shelling continues to hit Kyiv, Chernihiv, Izyum and the Donbass region.