As Moscow’s military advances steadily towards several major urban hubs in its pro-Western neighbour, the Kremlin said Monday that it may still choose to take control of large cities in Ukraine.
“Putin directed that any immediate assault on large cities be postponed due to the high civilian casualties,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

However, he added that the defence ministry “does not rule out the possibility of putting large cities, which are already nearly completely encircled, under its full control.”

Exceptions will be made for areas “used for humanitarian evacuations,” according to Peskov.

“It appears that US and EU leaders are pressuring Russia to launch an assault on major Ukrainian cities in order to hold our country accountable for civilian deaths,” he added.

Peskov also denied reports Russia has asked China for military aid.

“Russia has its own potential to continue the operation,” Peskov told reporters.