Russia has started to reposition under 20% of the forces arrayed around Ukraine's capital Kyiv, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, but cautioned Russia was expected to refit and resupply them for redeployment, and not bring the forces home.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the Russian forces may have already moved into Belarus, as opposed to their home garrisons.
Kirby also told a news briefing Russian contractor Wagner Group had deployed about 1,000 contractors into Ukraine's Donbas region, which Moscow has declared a priority.
(Reporting by Idree Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Chris Reese)