Russia using church as staging ground for Kyiv assault -U.S. official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian forces have established a deployment cite at a church northwest of Kyiv and are utilizing it as a staging floor as a part of their assault on the Ukrainian capital, a senior U.S. administration official mentioned on Friday.
“Army personnel are located each on the grounds of the church and the encompassing residential space,” the official mentioned on situation of anonymity and with out citing proof. The official mentioned the data was primarily based on declassified intelligence.
“We consider the Russian army is utilizing this staging level as a part of its assault on Kyiv,” the official mentioned.
After failing to seize a single main Ukrainian metropolis in 5 weeks of struggle, Russia says it’s pulling again from northern Ukraine and shifting its focus to the southeast, together with Mariupol.
Russia has painted its draw-down within the north of Ukraine as goodwill gesture for peace talks. Ukraine and its allies say the Russian forces have been compelled to regroup after sustaining heavy losses as a result of poor logistics and difficult Ukrainian resistance.
Over the previous 10 days, Ukrainian forces have recaptured suburbs close to Kyiv, damaged the siege of Sumy within the east and pushed again Russian forces advancing on Mykolaiv within the south.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Enhancing by Chizu Nomiyama and Franklin Paul)
