The 40-mile-long convoy of the Russian troops, which was stuck outside Kyiv for weeks, has now spread out into forests and towns of the Ukrainian capital, prompting speculations of imminent launch of a massive and attack against Kyiv.
The Kremlin military's convoy outside Kyiv has disbursed into surrounding areas, indicated fresh satellite images. It also shows that armored vehicles and artillery have largely moved into nearby towns and forests after being stuck near north of Kyiv for days.
Renewed Offensive
Pentagon on Friday said that the Kremlin troops were "likely seeking to reset and re-posture its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days," which "will probably include operations against the capital Kyiv."
US Defence Department's Press Secretary John Kirby also suggested that it could be a defensive move of Russian troops as they were being monitored by Ukrainian troops.
Defensive Move
"I don't want to make too much of the fact that there's satellite imagery [showing] this convoy moving into tree lines or disbursing. That could just be force protection because Ukrainians have continued to threaten that convoy and its progress," said Kirby.
The US believes that Russian forces were beginning to make more momentum on the ground towards Kyiv, particularly from the east but not quite so much from the north, where the convoy is located.
Experts also believe that spreading out tactic of Russian troops is defensive and probably the Kremlin soldiers are first planing to surround Kyiv.
A recent viral video has shown that Ukrianian troops had attacked the convoy which led to a number of casualties of Russian soldiers and even Kyiv claimed that commander of the convoy was killed.
Russia Displayed Poor Tactics
The successful Ukrainian attack was indication of "very poor tactics displayed by this Russian armored force so close to Kyiv", said Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the think tank Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Lee further said that Russian troops were within the range of Ukranian artillery and despite being aware of this, Kremlin troops approach towards Kyiv in a massive convoy made them more vulnerable to indirect fire.
