US official talks Russian mutiny and potential impact on Ukraine war
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that "it remains to be seen" whether Russia has recovered from last month's brief but chaotic mutiny and if it will have any notable effect on the fighting in Ukraine.
"We don't exactly know what transpired every minute of that event and we don't really know what kind of impact it's going to have on the war in Ukraine," Kirby told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos during an interview on "Good Morning America."
"As we speak, there hasn't really been that much of an effect on the fighting in Ukraine," he added. "The Russians are dug in. The Ukrainians are trying to claw back territory. We're still trying to help them win."
Ukrainian forces are in the midst of a counteroffensive, "all the way from the Donbas area down toward Zaporizhia to the south," according to Kirby.
"They're making halting progress, not as fast [or] as far as they'd like to go, but we're going to do everything we can to give them the tools and capabilities to succeed," he said. "It could be weeks, it could be months of hard fighting here as they try to claim back the rest of their country."