Russia’s armed forces are now concentrating on the complete liberation of Donbas, the first deputy head of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, Col-Gen Sergey Rudskoy, has said
“In general, the main tasks of the first stage of the operation have been completed. The combat capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been significantly reduced, which allows us, once again, to concentrate our main efforts on achieving the main goal – the liberation of Donbas”, – Rudskoy said.
More than 270 settlements previously in the zone of actions of the Ukrainian army have already passed under the control of the people’s militias of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics.
“Offensives of the Russian Armed Forces are being carried out in various directions. As a result, Russian troops have blocked Kiev, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolayiv. The Kherson Region and a large part of the Zaporizhzhya Region are under full control”, – the colonel-general added.
It is reported that the Russian military was not planning to storm the blockaded cities of Ukraine, however such a possibility has not been ruled out.