Russian forces have abandoned huge numbers of tanks and artillery in a “hurried” withdrawal from northern Ukraine, a Western official has said. The rapid retreat is said to be a sign that morale among Vladimir Putin’s troops has “collapsed” and they no longer have the “will to fight”. Russian forces have been withdrawing from northern Ukraine and towns around the capital, Kiev, for several days. However, as they left the area, horrific reports emerged of civilians being slaughtered, buried in mass graves and tortured, raped or burned. Troops have been accused of committing war crimes in Bucha before leaving the city on March 30, and there are fears that up to 300 people may have been killed in Borodyanka. The Kremlin is widely believed to be withdrawing from the north so that it can focus its efforts on southeastern Ukraine. During a press conference Wednesday, a Western official told reporters that Russia had now withdrawn completely from the north. “We can confirm that there are no more units in northern Ukraine,” they said. Huge areas of northern Ukraine have now been liberated (Image: Metro Graphics) Putin’s forces have left behind “many” tanks, military vehicles and artillery (Image: Laurel Chor / SOPA Images / REX / Shutterstock) The unnamed official described the withdrawal as “hasty” with “many” tanks, vehicles and artillery left behind. “It was a rather hasty withdrawal from Russian forces and there is a lot of Russian equipment that has been abandoned,” they said. “This will only exacerbate the challenge of rebuilding and rebuilding their forces as they remove them to both Belarus and Russia.” “Some of them are a bit vague as to why they have been abandoned because you may have thought some of these vehicles were still usable and you think they could get them and I think there is something about morale and willpower. for a fight “. The comments come as a senior U.S. defense official said Friday that the Pentagon believes some of Russia’s retreating units have suffered so much damage that “for all intents and purposes they have been eliminated.” Russia is seen withdrawing from the north to focus its efforts on seizing control of southeastern Ukraine (Image: Metro Graphics) A Ukrainian soldier stands amid damaged Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev (Image: AP ) The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military assessments. They said the United States believed that Russia had lost between 15% and 20% of its total combat power since the start of the war. While some combat units are withdrawing to supply supplies to Russia, Moscow has added thousands of troops around Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, he said. The comments come as a Kremlin spokesman acknowledged that Russia had suffered a “significant” loss of troops in Ukraine. NATO estimates that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed in the first six weeks of the war, while Ukraine puts the death toll at 18,600. Russia’s retreat from cities near Kyiv has revealed many civilian deaths and disasters (Image: Anastasia Vlasova / Getty Images) The last report released by the Kremlin was 1,351 on March 25, and by Wednesday, official Russian sources had released the names of 1,083 dead soldiers. Amid reports of heavy casualties among Russian forces and low morale, there have also been several reports of Russian troops refusing to obey orders to attack. A select group of paratroopers is said to have organized a mutiny and refused to fight in Ukraine, leading to the withdrawal of the battalion to Belarus. The incident came after reports of select OMON special forces from Hakasia who refused to take weapons and troops from the unofficial state of South Ossetia reportedly returned to their homes on foot after refusing to fight. In March, a Russian commander was killed by his own troops who ran after him with a tank. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
