Ukrainian forces are pushing back Russian troops so successfully that the invaders have been forced to regroup, refit and refocus, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.
“Russia has changed its behavior in this war,” Sullivan said on CBS News’ Face The Nation. “They have retreated. They have pulled back from substantial territory in northern and northeastern Ukraine. Chiefly the reason they made those adjustments is because they were beaten by the Ukrainians.”
Sullivan credited the Ukraine military – and the flow of equipment the U.S. and its allies have been sending the besieged country. Last week, he said Slovakia was able to send an S-300 air defense system because the U.S. was willing to provide a Patriot battery to replace the system Slovakia was giving away.
Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov, however, earlier told Newsweek the West is provoking Russia.
“We warn that such actions are dangerous,” the envoy said. “They can lead the U.S. and the Russian Federation onto the path of direct military confrontation.”
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LATEST VISUAL EXPLANATIONS: Mapping and tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Latest developments:
► Ukraine’s border guard agency says about 2,200 Ukrainian men of fighting age have been detained so far while trying to leave the country in violation of martial law. The agency said Sunday that some of them have used forged documents and others tried to bribe border guards.
► Ukraine is investigating the involvement of about 500 Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, in 5,600 possible war crimes, Irina Venediktova, Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, said Sunday.
► EU Ambassador to Ukraine Matti Maasikas said he believes Ukraine could formally become a candidate for EU membership as soon as June. “Now we are even talking about weeks, not months,” Maasikas said.
► Authorities in the region that includes Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, Dnipro, say the airport was hit twice by missile attacks on Sunday.
Ukrainians wrap up training in US
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday thanked a small number of Ukrainian troops who were departing the United States after training to operate patrol boats and kamikaze drones, the latter among the latest military technology sent to fight Russian invaders, the Pentagon announced. The Ukrainian contingent, whose size the Pentagon has not disclosed, took part in a long-standing training mission that began Feb. 24, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine.
The mission was extended to include training on Switchblade drones, which stay aloft long enough for operators to locate enemy positions or armored vehicles and then crash into them and explode.
Austin thanked the Ukrainian troops by video conference on their final day at the U.S. Navy’s base at Little Creek, Va., Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
Austrian chancellor to meet with Putin; some Ukrainians not pleased
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday for talks, two days after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Nehammer told the Austrian Press Agency he hopes to promote dialogue between the countries and will address Putin’s “war crimes” in Ukraine.
Nehammer’s plans drew immediate fallout in Ukraine. The deputy mayor of Mariupol, Sergei Orlow, told the German outlet Bild that the meeting was not appropriate.
“The war crimes that Russia is currently committing on Ukrainian soil are still taking place,” he told Bild. “I don’t understand how to have a conversation with Putin at this time, how to do business with him.”
Russia scrambling to bolster troop strength
In response to mounting losses, the Russian armed forces are trying to bolster…
Read More: Russia warns of ‘direct military confrontation’ with US as Ukraine forces retreat. Live updates.