Russian forces have “fully withdrawn” from northern Ukraine and some will be transferred to fight in the eastern part of the country, according to the UK Defense Ministry in a statement posted Friday. British military intelligence officials said that some Russian troops who were positioned in northern Ukraine have been withdrawn to Belarus and Russia. At least some of these Russian forces will be transferred to East Ukraine to fight in the Donbass region, the Ministry of Defence said on Twitter. But those forces will require “significant replenishment before being ready to further deploy east,” the agency said, “with any mass deployment in the north likely to take a week [at] minimum.” The ministry also said that Russian shelling of cities in the east and south continues and Russian forces have advanced further south from the city of Izium, which remains under their control. Several weeks ago, top Kremlin officials …