Putin Pulls 'Some' Units Out Ukraine, U.S. Says, As Ukrainian Troops Move Deeper Into Russia

The United States said on Thursday that it has observed some Russian units moving from their positions in occupied territories of Ukraine towards Kursk Oblast, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"[W]e have seen some Russian troop movement out of Ukraine to deal with the incursion that you and others have asked about, but I’m not going to do a military analysis from up here," State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

This could be the first indication that Ukraine’s cross-border operation is forcing Moscow to relieve some of the pressure on Ukraine itself.

"Separately, there has been no change to United States policy when it comes to cross-border attacks," Patel added when pressed by TURAN about Ukraine's ability to use American weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

"What we are focused on is making sure that our Ukrainian partners have what they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression," Patel concluded.

The move came as Ukraine said Thursday its military has taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region, the largest town Ukraine has seized so far in its incursion into Russian territory.

“A Ukrainian military commandant's office is being established there,”  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on his official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Moscow did not immediately respond to Kyiv’s statement, but the White House admitted that, despite fears to the contrary, it has not observed any escalatory rhetoric from Russia during the past few days.