Informing a group of journalists about the Russia-Ukraine war, the Pentagon official said, “We evaluate that the Russian forces around Kyiv and Chernihiv have completed their withdrawal from these two regions to regroup on Belarusian and Russian soils.” said.
Stating that the troops withdrawn from both regions were 20 battalions, the senior official pointed out that Russia currently has more than 80 battalions on the territory of Ukraine.
While the official did not provide clear information on the number of withdrawn Russian soldiers, he said that each Russian battalion consisted of 800 to 1000 soldiers.
Evaluating Ukraine’s fuel tanks being hit by Russia, the official stated that the USA and its partners are working to meet the fuel needs that will arise in Ukraine.
The official stated that they saw that Russia increased its attacks in the Donbas region.
Noting that Ukraine has accelerated its defense operations in this regard, the official said that the $100 million worth of Javelin missile aid they announced yesterday was made in line with the urgent need of the Ukrainian army in Donbas.
PENTAGON TRAINS UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS IN THE USA
Referring to the statement of the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Chief of General Staff, General Mark Milley, on April 4, that the Ukrainian army was being trained in the US on the new weapons to be given to the Ukrainian army in the House of Representatives, the official used the following statements:
“The forces mentioned there are very few Ukrainians already here in the United States who have undergone some professional military training. Very few, and we had the opportunity to take them out for a few days and give them some training, especially on Switchblade drones. These are systems that the Ukrainian military is not familiar with. Although it is not very difficult to operate these systems, we took advantage of their presence in the country to give them some basic training on this subject.”
Stating that the number of Ukrainian soldiers in the training process in the USA is around 12, the official noted that they will return to their country soon and that they can receive other trainings during their stay here.
AA