Pentagon sees no ‘real withdrawal’ of Russian forces away from Kyiv

During a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday, Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby dismissed an announcement from the Russian Defense Ministry that the country would reduce military activity around the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv. "Has there been some movement by some Russian units away from Kyiv in the last day or so? Yeah, we think so, small numbers,” Kirby said. “But we believe this is a repositioning, not a real withdrawal. ... It does not mean that the threat to Kyiv is over.”

Video Transcript

JOHN KIRBY: Again, we've seen that Russia has attempted now for going on a month to sell this war of theirs to its domestic audience as a, quote, "liberation of the Donbass." However, the intensified rhetoric over the last year and in the lead-up to Russia's invasion demonstrated that the Kremlin's real intent was to overthrow the democratically elected government and to occupy or annex large portions of Ukraine. The posture of Russian forces around Kiev along much of the Black and the Azov sea coast and in Central and Northeastern Ukraine indicates the geographic scale of this ambition. They've been attacking Ukraine as we have been talking about now for several weeks on multiple lines of access. Russia's intent was to replace Ukrainian regional and national authorities and create so-called people's republics as displayed recently in Kherson province. The rapid advance to Kiev in the initial days of the war showed very clearly for all of us that Kiev and the capital city was a key objective for the Russians. So we ought not be fooling and nobody should be fooling ourselves by the Kremlin's now recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near Kiev or any reports that it's going to withdraw all its forces. Has there been some movement by some Russian units away from Kiev in the last day or so? Yeah, we think so, small numbers. But we believe that this is a repositioning, not a real withdrawal. And that we all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine. It does not mean that the threat to Kiev is over. Russia has failed in its objective of capturing Kiev. It's failed in its objective of subjugating Ukraine. But they can still inflict massive brutality on the country, including on Kiev. We see that even today in continued airstrikes against the capital city. Mr. Putin's goal stretch far beyond the Donbass. The Russian Ministry of Defense's recent talking points maybe an effort to move the goalpost, moderating Russia's immediate goals, and spinning its current lack of progress as part of what would be next steps. But it's too early to judge what additional actions the Kremlin may take.