Russian troops setting up ‘defensive positions’ outside Kyiv: US Fb News

A senior US defence official says Russian ground forces appear to be digging in and setting up defensive positions between 15 and 20 kilometres (9-12 miles) outside Kyiv, as they continue to make little to no progress moving towards the city centre.

“They’re basically digging in and they are establishing defensive positions,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “So it’s not that they’re not advancing. They’re actually not trying to advance right now.”

In some cases east of Kyiv, Ukrainian troops have been able to push Russian soldiers further away, the official said, claiming that Russian forces who had been 20 to 30 kilometres (12-19 miles) away to the east and northeast are now about 55 kilometres (34 miles) away.

The official said that, instead, Russian troops are exerting more energy and effort in the eastern Donbas region, specifically in Luhansk and Donetsk.