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A senior U.S. defense official has said the Pentagon estimates that some Russian troops who have retreated from the Kyiv area in recent days have been so badly injured in the fighting that their combat capability is in question, the Associated Press reported.

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The officer said the units had been "virtually destroyed" and had a small number of combat-ready soldiers and weapons.

The spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not say how many military units had suffered such significant damage.

According to him, some troops withdrawn from the Kyiv region are beginning to move to the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valyuki to re-equip and replenish their supplies, after which they will most likely be located in the Donbass region of Ukraine.

The United States has found that thousands of Russian troops have joined forces stationed by Moscow in and around the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Zelensky: Russia is preparing powerful strikes against Donbass, near Mariupol and Kharkiv

The official added that according to US estimates, Russia had lost 15% to 20% of the military forces it had amassed along the border with Ukraine before the invasion.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine