Garrison has ‘fulfilled its combat mission’, Ukraine general staff says; officials say ‘exchange procedure will take place’ to bring evacuees home
- Hundreds of Ukrainian troops evacuated from Azovstal steelworks after 82-day assault
- Putin involved in war ‘at level of colonel or brigadier’, say western sources
- ‘When will it all end?’: Kharkiv counts the cost as Russians pull back
- What we know on day 83 of the invasion
The Russian withdrawal from around Kharkiv is different from previous Russian withdrawals from around Kyiv and other cities, when they pulled back to Russian territory, in that they are trying to retain a position in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War think tank writes in its latest assessment of the conflict.
The Russian grouping around Kharkiv City is notably trying to hold the border and prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing further north.
Russian troops may seek to retain positions in Ukraine and continue artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions in order to prevent Ukrainian forces from getting into tube or rocket-artillery range of the outskirts of Belgorod, a major city in Russia and a key hub of the Russian military effort.
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