The observation is now shared by many observers: on the 29th day of the fighting, the Russian army is stalling in this conflict that it started a month ago.
But failing to succeed in seizing the big cities, the Russian army continues to bombard them.
Proven war crimes, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which must stop, urged Brussels for his part.
The conflict is also deadly for the Russian forces, which have already lost between 7,000 and 15,000 soldiers in Ukraine, according to a senior NATO official, who is based in particular on information from the Ukrainian authorities and intelligence services. Westerners.
New strikes on kyiv
In kyiv, a new strike on the parking lot of a shopping center left one dead and two injured, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Earlier in the day, four people were injured in bombings on buildings.
kyiv remains an objective of the Russian army, but it is blocked northwest and east of the Ukrainian capital.
The Russian army has retreated more than 30 km east of kyiv in the past 24 hours and has begun to establish defensive positions on several fronts in Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday.
The Russian army takes up defensive positions
The Russian army has retreated more than 30 km east of kyiv in the past 24 hours and has begun to establish defensive positions on several fronts in Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday.
“The Ukrainians managed to repel the Russians 55 km east and northeast of kyiv,” the senior official, who requested anonymity, told the press, while the Pentagon still estimated on Tuesday that the Russian forces were 15 to 20 km from the center of the capital.
“We are starting to see them entrenching themselves and establishing defensive positions,” he added.
“It's not that they're not moving forward, it's that they're not trying to move forward.
They take defensive positions.
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Russian forces also remain stuck 10 km from the center of Chernihiv, northeast of kyiv, according to Pentagon estimates.
In that area, "they're giving ground, they're moving in the opposite direction, but not by much," he noted.
In Kharkiv (east), where the fighting remains intense, the Russian forces are still 15 to 20 km from the city center and they are facing “very firm” resistance from the Ukrainians.
According to the US Department of Defense official, the Russian military now appears to be prioritizing the pro-Russian separatist regions of Lugansk and Donetsk in the east.
“They are putting much more energy into the Lugansk/Donetsk region, and especially around Lugansk,” he said.
Russian journalist killed in the capital
A Russian journalist was killed Wednesday in a bombardment on kyiv, announced in the evening the independent online media for which she worked, The Insider.
Oksana Baulina was killed by a rocket while she was filming the damage caused by a previous strike on a shopping center in the Podil district, in the northwest of the Ukrainian capital, according to a press release from her newspaper.
Washington and Brussels denounce "war crimes"
The US government “has established that members of the Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
“These war crimes must stop immediately,” said European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday evening.
“We see Russia increasingly attacking the civilian population, targeting hospitals, schools and shelters,” he said in a statement.
In addition, the United Kingdom will deliver 6,000 additional anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, more than doubling its arms deliveries after the Russian invasion of the country, announced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Sweden and Germany announced for their part the delivery to Ukraine of 5,000 and 2,000 anti-tank weapons respectively.
The Ukrainian forces have already received 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger-type surface-to-air missile launchers taken from the reserves of the Bundeswehr, the German army.
