The Pentagon wants Russian actions in Bucha to be investigated as war crimes.
Apr 4, 2022 at 6:27 p.m
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The Pentagon has provided daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s resistance efforts.
Here are the highlights of what a senior US defense official told reporters on Monday, Day 40:
Almost 70% of Russian troops near Kyiv have withdrawn
About two-thirds of the Russian forces deployed against Kyiv have withdrawn to Belarus, according to the official. This is up from an estimated 20% increase at the end of last week.
A Ukrainian soldier stands on the turret of a destroyed Russian army tank near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, April 3, 2022.
Before the repositioning, nearly 20 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) rushed towards Kyiv from the north and north-west, each group consisting of 700-900 soldiers. About 13 of those BTGs are now either in Belarus or on their way there, the official said.
The Pentagon believes these forces will be resupplied and possibly reinforced in the north before returning to Ukraine to fight elsewhere.
Destroyed apartment buildings are seen March 30, 2022 in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Our best guess – and it’s just a guess – is that they will be applied in the eastern part of the country in the Donbass region,” the official said.
According to the official, the US also saw some Russian troops leave the Ukrainian city of Sumy to move north to the Russian border.
Despite those moves, the official said the “vast majority” of the more than 125 BTGs that Russia has committed to the invasion are still in Ukraine.
“Disgusting” Russian atrocities in Bucha
Bodies lie on the street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, Ukraine April 2, 2022 after Russian forces withdrew from the city.
The official said that while the US cannot independently verify Ukrainian claims about Russian atrocities against civilians in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv that was recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces, there is no reason to doubt it.
“It’s disgusting, it’s disgusting,” the official said, adding that the claims should be added to the growing list of alleged Russian war crimes under investigation.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the city, where he accused Russia of genocide. Ukrainian officials said more than 400 civilians were found dead there, many with their hands tied behind their backs, shot at point-blank range.
“We have long said that the Russians would be brutal in conducting this war. They have,” said the senior US defense official. “We said more than a week ago that we firmly believe the evidence points to war crimes by Russian forces. And what we are seeing from Bucha certainly reinforces those concerns.”
Soldiers walk amidst destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 3, 2022. Ukrainian troops are finding brutalized bodies and widespread destruction in the Kyiv suburbs, prompting fresh calls for a war crimes probe and sanctions against Russia.
President Joe Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin when speaking to reporters Monday.
“You may recall that I was criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden said. “Well, to tell the truth, you saw what happened in Bucha… he’s a war criminal.”
Russia shifts airstrikes
Not only has Russia withdrawn some of its troops from the capital, it has also refocused its long-range strikes elsewhere, mainly in the eastern and southern parts of the country, the official said.
“Obviously they’re still hitting Mariupol, but we haven’t seen the same level of airstrike activity on Kyiv,” the official said. “So there’s been a declination there in the last few days.”
A view shows buildings damaged in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 3, 2022.
Russia has fired more than 1,400 rockets at Ukraine since the invasion began.
Military aid is being pushed into Ukraine
The US has continued to supply small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and medical supplies to Ukraine, according to the senior defense official, and has been coordinating shipments from half a dozen other donor nations over the past 24 hours.
A soldier fighting for Ukraine watches outside to move during a clearing operation of the remaining Russian forces in Irpin, Ukraine March 29, 2022. For the time being, the Ukrainian unit has essentially recaptured the suburb west of Kyiv, the scene of bitter fighting in recent weeks.
“Everything we do in relation to Ukraine will be expedited – everything,” the official said.