Ukraine “can and will” launch counteroffensives to retake territory after Russia lost more than 10 percent of its forces, the Pentagon says.
This came after Ukraine said it had recaptured the strategically important suburb of Makariv north of Kyiv and repelled an attack on the Black Sea coastal town of Mykolaiv east of Odessa.
Ukraine’s military is now trying to push Russia out of Izyum in the east of the country while fighting an advance by Russian troops in Mariupol, according to an unnamed US official briefing reporters on the Pentagon’s latest combat assessment.
Meanwhile, Russia has made no concrete attempt to physically increase its troops fighting in Ukraine, which for the first time have fallen “slightly below” 90 percent of their original strength, the US official was quoted as saying. foreign policy and USAToday.
Moscow is said to be considering adding more troops and resupplying the remaining 190,000 originally assembled in Belarus and western Russia before crossing the border on February 24.
There are also claims that some Russian troops suffered from frostbite, while there are also signs Moscow is struggling to resupply its ships at sea.
“It’s very clear they didn’t plan it properly,” the senior defense official said.
The official added that additional troops were being drawn into Ukraine from outside Russia, with 75 percent of the battalion’s tactical grouping capacity already being used in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Wagner Group mercenary group is said to have gone to war in the eastern Donbass region. A Ukrainian counteroffensive at Izyum south of Kharviv would aim to prevent Russian forces from encircling most of their army on the front line in disputed Donbass.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the recapture of the Kiev suburb of Makariv allowed its forces to regain control of a key road needed to block the city’s encirclement from the northwest.
Russian forces were able to take control of other northwestern suburbs, including Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, but they were still nearly 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the city center, the Defense Ministry added.
According to reports, the Russian advance was closest at nine miles (14 km) to the northwest and 19 miles (30 km) to the east.
Although Kyiv is Vladimir Putin’s main target, most of his army is still fighting in the south and east of the country, according to US and British officials.
In Mariupol, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting, Russia began shelling the city from seven ships in the Sea of Azov and some of its troops were able to enter the city Tuesday morning.
More than 1,100 civilians who had fled the besieged city were headed in a bus convoy to another city northwest of Mariupol, according to the city council.
Russia has also ramped up its airstrikes over the past two days, flying as many as 300 in the past 24 hours and launching more than 1,100 missiles at Ukraine since the invasion began.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.