The first phase of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a Russian army chief, is “complete,” but the invasion’s goals may be scaled back.
According to reports, Kremlin troops are shifting their focus to completely “liberating” eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
The country’s defence ministry announced on Friday that it had “liberated” 93% of the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and 54% of the Donetsk region – the two areas that comprise the Donbass.
In a statement issued on Friday, Sergey Rudskoy, head of the main operational department of the Russian Armed Forces, said that storming blockaded Ukrainian cities was not out of the question.
He also stated that Russia would respond immediately to any attempt to close the airspace over Ukraine, which Kyiv has requested of NATO, but NATO has refused.
The defence ministry stated on Friday that the operation would continue until Russian forces completed the tasks assigned to them, without going into further detail.
The Russian army updated its losses in Ukraine to 1,351 soldiers on Friday, while evacuating over 400,000 civilians.
Thousands of people have died in shelling and missile attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine last month, and millions more have fled the country.
Last week, a deadly airstrike hit a theatre in Mariupol, where hundreds of people, including children, were sheltering, killing at least 300 people.
Despite the bombardment, the Ministry of Defence reported on Friday morning that Ukrainian forces are driving Russian forces back from the area around Kyiv.
According to the most recent assessment, the Ukrainians will continue to try to push the Russians away from the capital.
“Ukrainian counter-attacks, combined with Russian forces reverting to overextended supply lines, have allowed Ukraine to retake towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres (22 miles) east of Kyiv,” it said.
The Russian advance on the key Black Sea port city of Odesa, it said, was slowed by “logistic issues and Ukrainian resistance” in the country’s south.
Since the invasion began more than a month ago, it has been reported that the Kremlin initially hoped for a ‘lightning invasion’ that would sweep the city and Ukrainian capital in a matter of days.
Instead of deposing Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, Moscow is now negotiating with it.
The MoD highlighted specific Russian failings in the most recent intelligence update, which was posted on Twitter. This has been a recurring theme throughout this invasion.
It claimed that Russian troops had overextended their supply lines, leaving it vulnerable.
This was reportedly an issue in the past because Russia expected the fighting to last only a few days and was unprepared for the prolonged conflict it now finds itself in.
The MoD predicted that Ukraine’s troops would continue to advance from here, including towards the strategically important Hosomel Airfield, where fierce fighting erupted at the start of the invasion.
The Ministry of Defence stated: “Ukrainian counter-attacks, combined with Russian forces reverting to overstretched supply lines, have allowed Ukraine to retake towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres (21 miles) east of Kiev.
“Ukrainian forces are likely to press Russian forces back along the northwestern axis from Kyiv to Hostomel Airfield.”
However, in the country’s south, Mykolaiv remains under Russian siege, and Moscow’s troops continue to surround the city.
“In the south of Ukraine, Russian forces are still attempting to circumvent Mykolaiv as they drive west towards Odesa, with their progress slowed by logistical issues and Ukrainian resistance,” the MoD added.
On February 24, Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what it called a “special operation” to weaken its southern neighbor’s military capabilities and root out “dangerous nationalists.”
Ukrainian forces have resisted the invasion with vigour, and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an attempt to force it to withdraw its forces.
Only last night, Kyiv counter-attacks on a landing ship and ammunition depots in the southern city of Berdyansk were successful.
This was part of a reported shift in Ukraine’s tactics to target Russian supply chains while leaving frontline troops under-resourced.
On Friday, Vladimir Putin said in Russia that the West has already cancelled JK Rowling and is attempting to cancel Russia.
The Russian president used the author of Harry Potter as an example of what happens in the West, saying that it likes to cancel people and compared it to cancelling Russia.
Putin stated that Ms Rowling’s appearance was cancelled “simply because she did not meet the demands of gender rights.”
He stated: “They are now attempting to cancel our country’s existence. I’m referring to the progressive discrimination against anything related to Russia.”
The Russian army confirmed on Friday that 1,351 soldiers had died in the conflict in Ukraine, while 3,825 had been injured.
According to Mikhail Mizintsev, a senior defence ministry official, over 400,000 civilians have been evacuated to Russia from the separatist eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as the rest of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has previously stated that 14,000 troops have died and 16,000 have been injured.
