Reinforcements in the south and east
Ukraine reports “rapid withdrawal” of Russian troops
4/2/2022, 12:58 p.m
After weeks of standstill, the fronts in Ukraine are moving significantly. According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops are accelerating their withdrawal from the north. Important strategic locations are again under Ukrainian control. According to Kyiv, Russia wants to step up its attacks elsewhere.
According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian armed forces in the north of the country are “rapidly withdrawing”. The attackers would fall back in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, said Mikhailo Podoliak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Moscow’s goal is obvious: it wants to “withdraw its troops to the east and south and retain control of large occupied areas there.”
Earlier in the week, after talks in Istanbul, the Russian side pledged to reduce their attacks on Kyiv and Chernihiv, presenting this as a concession in the negotiations. Shortly thereafter, however, Ukrainian and Western representatives denounced a deceptive maneuver. Moscow’s goal is “to gain a foothold in the east and south and to dictate its conditions harshly,” Podoliak said. Ukraine now needs “heavy weapons” to advance into occupied areas in these regions “and push back the Russians as far as possible”.
The Ukrainian General Staff announced that Russian troops would be withdrawn from the exclusion zone around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant and from adjacent areas in Belarus. They were apparently to be transferred to the Russian Belgorod region in order to advance from there to Kharkiv.
The military information from both sides can hardly be verified. However, the British Ministry of Defense says it has information that largely supports the Ukrainian account. The Ukrainian army is advancing on retreating Russian troops near the capital Kyiv. According to British intelligence, the Ukrainians are also continuing to push towards Bucha and Hostomel on the north-western outskirts of the capital from Irpin.
The Russians have meanwhile withdrawn from the important cargo airport Hostomel, which has been fought over since the beginning of the war on February 24, it was said. Several villages along the eastern axis have also been recaptured by Ukrainian units, as has an important road in the city of Kharkiv in the east of the country.