The United States believes that Russian forces have not yet taken over the Ukrainian city of Kherson, but could use it as part of a strategy for potentially moving to Mykolaiv and then onto Odessa, a senior U.S. defense official said on Thursday.
“What they may want to do is move on (Mykolaiv) so that they can then position themselves to the northeast of Odessa in case, in fact, they want to move on Odessa, not just from the sea, but from the ground,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
