Russia Moves Some Troops From Ukraine to Fight Incursion, Kyiv and U.S. Say

Moscow has begun withdrawing some troops from Ukraine in an effort to repel Kyiv’s offensive into western Russia, according to United States and Ukrainian officials, but it remains unclear what impact, if any, these troop movements might have on the overall battlefield.

Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Army, told the Ukrainian news media on Tuesday that Russia had moved some units from the southern Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro to other areas of the fighting. That included the Kursk region of western Russia, where the incursion has taken place, he said.

A United States official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, said that Russia had pulled out small numbers of troops from Ukraine, but he did not specify their location or the number of soldiers involved.

Analysts say that one of the goals of the Ukrainian offensive is to draw Russian forces away from the front lines in Ukraine to relieve Ukrainian troops struggling to push back relentless Russian attacks. But it is too early to say whether the latest Russian troop movements will allow that to happen, they say.

In particular, there is little sign that Moscow has redeployed troops from eastern Ukraine, where Russia has been steadily advancing in recent months. Instead, the Russian Army appears to have sent in reinforcements drawn mainly from less combat-ready units based in northern Russia and Ukraine, military experts say.

“The Russian strategy is to avoid drawing from units in the Donetsk direction as much as possible,” said Serhii Kuzan, the chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, an independent research group, referring to the region in eastern Ukraine that is on the front line. “The Russians are reluctant to do this, because it would jeopardize all the gains of their summer offensive campaign.”