(RoyalPatriot.com )- The UK’s Ministry of Defense claimed on Thursday that Russia has withdrawn some of its forces from eastern Ukraine after suffering “heavy losses.”
Tweeting that Ukrainian forces have recaptured several towns and villages along the Russian border north of Kharkiv, the UK Defense Ministry added that the despite successfully encircling Kharkiv early on in the conflict, Russian forces are reportedly pulling back from the region to “reorganize and replenish its forces following heavy losses.”
The UK Defense Ministry concluded that by pulling forces back from the Kharkiv region, Russia recognizes that it was unable “to capture key Ukrainian cities where they expected limited resistance.”
The ministry surmises that the withdrawn forces are likely to be redeployed to the Siverskyi Donets River, forming a blockade “to protect the western flank of Russia’s main force concentration and main supply routes for operations in the vicinity of Izyum.”
However, given travel restrictions in the Kharkiv region, it is difficult to confirm the state of fighting in the region.
Over the weekend the Ukrainian military reported that Russian forces around Kharkiv began concentrating on maintaining their current positions and preventing Ukraine troops from advancing toward the border with Russia.
On Monday, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces are focusing their latest attacks on the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, targeting both civilian and military targets in multiple towns. Russian forces have used an array of weaponry to target Ukrainian fortifications and have fired artillery on civilian targets in Dovvehnke, Ruski Tyshiki, Petrivka, and Ternova.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Russian forces continued the air and artillery strikes on the Azovstal plant in Mariupol where the last of the Ukrainian forces continue to launch their resistance in the strategic southern city.
Ukraine’s military commander in the eastern region of Luhansk said on Monday that, as part of efforts to slow the Russian offensive, Ukraine forces blew up the Russian-held railway bridges between Rubizhne and Severodonetsk.
The destruction of the railway bridges has not been independently verified.
