Moscow/Kyiv – After Ukraine forced Russian troops to withdraw from Kharkiv province, claims were made that it marked the beginning of the Russian defeat. The Ukrainian leaders had even bragged that now the advance of the Ukrainian forces would not stop unless Crimea was captured. However, the US circles that support Ukraine have given cautious reactions. A US Defence Department official has carefully suggested that the retreat of the Russian forces in Kharkiv cannot be considered a ‘turning point’ in the war. The US official warned that considering the military capabilities, it cannot be ignored that Russia still has tremendous military might.
John Kirby, a senior official in the Biden administration, has also stated that Russia’s defence preparedness cannot be overlooked. Against this backdrop, Russia launched missile attacks on the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, destroying the infrastructure. Since last month, Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive against Russia. The counteroffensive was said to have attained tremendous success last week. The Russian forces were forced to pull out troops from Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. At the same time, it was revealed that Russia had to give up some parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces in southern Ukraine. Russian troops were reported to have retreated even from the town of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia. Therefore, Ukraine, Western media and think tanks began to assert that the withdrawal from Kharkiv was a decisive blow to the Russian defence forces. Some analysts even called it Russia’s most significant defeat since World War II.
However, cautious reactions are being received from US officials over it. White House spokesman John Kirby sounded a note of caution at a press conference Tuesday following the events in Kharkiv. ‘Russian armed forces still can inflict significant damage on others. Bear in mind that President Putin has not yet used the Russian military to its full potential,’ Kirby warned. After that, senior officials from the US Defence Department also said that don’t try to conclude the course of the war based on the events in Kharkiv. US officials have also highlighted that Russia still has considerable capacity for Ukraine’s conflict.
On Wednesday, Russia launched a major missile attack in the Kryvyi Rih region of central Ukraine. The city’s major dam and other infrastructural facilities were said to have been badly damaged in this attack. Due to the dam’s bursting, a flood-like situation has been created in some parts of the city. Meanwhile, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, has reiterated the statement that the United States is a party in the Ukraine war.
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