Threat of Ukrainian Armed Forces' southern offensive impacts Russian army - White House
John Kirby, the spokesman for the US National Security Council, says that, regardless of its scope or scale the Ukrainian Armed Forces' offensive in the Kherson region has already had a tangible impact on already strained Russian military capabilities.
This is reported by CNN.
Kirby noted that regardless of the size, scale and scope of the latest counteroffensive, the Ukrainians "have already had an impact on Russian military capabilities."
"Because the Russians have had to pull resources from the east simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might be going more on the offense in the south," the American official said.
Kirby explained that the occupiers began withdrawing units in certain areas of Donbas "in order to respond to what, in their opinion, is an imminent threat of a counteroffensive."
He also noted that "the idea of going on the offense is not new to the Ukrainians." Ukrainian forces have been "fighting the Russians inside" Ukraine for quite some time, including the first months of the war around the capital Kyiv.
"So, it’s not a new development for them to do this," Kirby said.
The official also said that the US is aware of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the South, but will not comment on the development of events.
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