Over half of Russian troops deployed on borders now inside Ukraine: US official

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) – More than half of the Russian forces amassed near Ukrainian borders are now inside Ukraine, a senior US defense official said on Saturday, the third day of the Russian military operation in the former Soviet republic.

Ahead of Russia’s military attacks, the US and Western nations accused Moscow of placing more than 150,000 troops near Ukraine and planning an intervention.

“We’d estimate that about more than 50% of the Russian force that Mr. Putin had arrayed in Ukraine (...) has been committed inside Ukraine,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

The official said Russian forces are facing “the stiffest resistance” in the north of Ukraine, but “a little less resistance” in the south.

According to the official, Russian forces are approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the capital Kyiv.

“We continue to believe based on what we’ve observed that this resistance is greater than what the Russians expected. And we have indications that the Russians are increasingly frustrated by their lack of momentum over the last 24 hours, particularly in the northern parts of Ukraine,” the official added.

As of Saturday morning, Russia had launched missiles in Ukraine, the majority of which are short-range ballistic missile types, said the official, adding that there have been casualties on both sides militarily.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s envoy to Turkiye Vasyl Bodnar said Ukrainian forces are “resolutely” defending all major cities from Russian attacks, which he said have killed dozens of civilians and inflicted heavy infrastructural damage.

“The enemy is trying to capture our big cities. We have withstood all these attacks,” Bodnar said at an event in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

In a televised address, Putin said the people of Donbas asked Russia for help, claiming that he wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.

Fighting on the third day of the attack is said to have reached the streets of Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Moscow of trying to install a puppet government, vowing that Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.​​​​​​​