Claims Of Troops' Tasks In Kyiv And Chernihiv Completed, Russia Focuses On Freeing Donbass

Illustration of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday its troops regrouped near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, to focus on other key areas and complete the "liberation" of the breakaway eastern Donbas region.

The ministry's statement, part of a reframing of goals Moscow declared in recent days, came a day after Russia said it would scale back operations near Kyiv and Chernihiv to support progress in peace talks.

Ukraine and the West alike reacted with suspicion to the announcement, suspecting a tactic by Moscow in response to the heavy losses of people and equipment it had suffered during the five weeks of war in which Ukraine had fought fiercely and effectively.

Russian attacks in both locations continued on Wednesday, according to Reuters reporters near Kyiv and the mayor of Chernihiv, as quoted on March 31, with the leaders of the two cities judging Russia to be lying by continuing the attacks.

Further to previous statements, the defense ministry said on the 35th day of the war, Russia had achieved 'all' the objectives of the first phase of what it described as a special military operation in Ukraine.

It is said that this was to insulate enemy troops and equipment in order to defend major population centers like Kyiv, but without overrunning those cities, and to hit the Ukrainian troops so hard that they could not be deployed in the Donbas region, which Russia now says is the focus. main attack.

"Thus, all the main tasks of the Russian Armed Forces in the Kiev and Chernihiv directions have been completed. The aim of the regrouping of the Russian Armed Forces is to intensify actions in priority areas and, above all, to complete the operation to completely liberate Donbas," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and the West consider Russia forced to simplify its target, focusing on Donbass, after failing to capture Kyiv and other major cities. On the other hand, Moscow denies that the seizure of Kyiv and other major cities is their goal.

The Donbas region includes two self-proclaimed people's republics by Russia, with Moscow saying it was helping to "liberate" them from Ukrainian forces.

The leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, said on Wednesday the offensive was intensifying.

"We are well aware that the longer it takes us to liberate our territory, the settlements now under Ukrainian control, the more casualties and destruction there will be," he said.