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The Pentagon reported Tuesday that Russia moved some military units in the vicinity of Kyiv. However, Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby stressed that they do not believe this is an actual withdrawal.
“We believe this is a repositioning, not a real withdrawal, and the world should now be prepared for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine,” Kirby told during a press conference.
Kirby stressed that “no one should be fooled by the Kremlin’s claim that it will just suddenly reduce military attacks near Kyiv or reports that it will withdraw its forces.” Therefore, he added that Russia’s announcement does not mean that the threat to Kyiv is over.
The department spokesman assured that the world is seeing how the determination of Ukrainians and their military forces have been more than what Russia expected. “No amount of Kremlin spin can mask what the world has witnessed over the past month: that the courage and military prowess of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and its people are proving to be more than what Russia bargained for,” Kirby said.
Pentagon’s warning comes after Russia’s announcement
The spokesman’s remarks come after Russia today announced its decision to “cardinally” reduce military activity around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the besieged northern city of Chernihiv following negotiations in Istanbul with the Ukrainian delegation.
“In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing [an] agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions” on the Russian side, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said.
