US OFFICIALS claim Kyiv remains at risk of being bombarded by airstrikes despite Putin’s withdrawal of troops from the area.
It comes just days after Moscow said it would “cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations”.
But US officials warn the capital city – which has so far been protected by Ukrainian resistance fighters – still faces a high risk of being bombed or shelled by forces.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said: “What I would just say is generally, the city continues to be under threat of airstrike and bombardment. We are continuing to see that even as the Russians reposition some of their troops.
“Before they started to reposition they were in a defensive crouch basically, they weren’t advancing from the ground anymore in the city.
“But even with all that, we continue to see that the city is very much under threat from airstrikes.”
And despite Russia’s announcement that it will pull back forces from near Ukraine’s capital and the northern city of Chernihiv, explosions were heard in Kyiv on Wednesday morning.
The governor of Donetsk Oblast said yesterday that Russian forces were shelling several towns and cities on the border that separates Ukrainian and Russian-controlled areas in the region.
According to the latest UN figures, more than four million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began.
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