-
Ukraine launched a shock counter-invasion into Russia last week.
-
US officials told the Wall Street Journal that Russia is withdrawing troops from Ukraine in response.
-
U.S. officials said the extent of the withdrawal was unclear. Officials in Kiev said it was a “relatively small” number of units.
Russia is withdrawing some of its troops from Ukraine in response to Ukraine’s counterattack-invasion to Russia which started last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
Europe Politics also reported on Tuesday that an official in Kiev said a “relatively small” number of Russian units had been withdrawn to respond to the Kursk incursion. U.S. officials told the Journal it was not yet clear how many troops Russia was withdrawing from Ukraine.
The State Department and White House did not respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.
Ukraine began a shock incursion into Russia from August 6, sending troops into the Kursk region. Kyiv this week said Ukrainian forces took almost 400 square miles of Russian territory in a matter of days – that’s almost as much as Russia gained in Ukraine this year. Business Insider was unable to independently verify how much territory was taken by Ukraine.
Ukraine has not said much about the incursion. In a speech on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian projectiles were being fired at Ukraine from the Kursk region and called the operation a “security issue,” according to the newspaper. Europe Politics.
“It is fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are, from where they launch their attacks,” Zelenskyy said. He also said that Ukraine would be able to build its “exchange fund” of prisoners of war.
The ultimate goal was not clear, although military analysts They said Kiev could be trying to gain an advantage in negotiations or provide aid to its troops elsewhere, straining Russia’s resources, BI previously reported.
Ukraine could also be trying shame Russia. Although the Kremlin has tried to downplay the attack, military analysts previously told BI’s Tom Porter that the attack damages Putin’s strongman image.
Putin even sought blame the West for the attack and said that the “peaceful” people of Russia do not deserve to be invaded.
The US had a simple response, with John Kirbythe White House national security communications adviser said Monday, “There’s an easy solution: He can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day.”
Heorhiy Tykhi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said the aim of the attack was “to save the lives of our people and protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian attacks,” the Journal reported.
“The sooner the Russian Federation agrees to restore a just peace… the sooner attacks by Ukrainian defense forces on the territory of the Russian Federation will stop,” he added.
Read the original article at Business Insider
