VICTORY IN SIGHT?
RUSSIA has said it is to “drastically reduce” forces near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as its invasion continues to falter.
The announcement was made by the Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and comes as a fresh round of peace negotiations get under way.
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Fomin said Russian forces will also be reduced in Chernihiv region.
Moscow had decided to fund "cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations", he said.
The announcement came as the Ukrainian military leadership had said it had began to notice Russian troop withdrawals from Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Previous announcements of Russian troop withdrawals have been greeted with scepticism.
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But the Ukrainian re-taking of the town of Irpin near Kyiv shows Russian forces are on the back foot.
The Russian announcement was nonetheless greeted with scepticism by some in the Ukrainian leadership.
“These statements are absolute lies intended to win time for strengthening Russian positions,” tweeted government adviser Anton Gerashchenko.
And Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said of the Russians: “They must think that we were born yesterday.”
Despite Western scepticism, footage geolocated to north of Kyiv showed Russia's infamous "Z" tanks trundling away from the city back towards Belarus.
Vladimir Putin expected a quick victory when he ordered the invasion of Ukraine but his forces have met stiff resistance in the war.
The Russian death toll has reached as high as 17,000 with several generals and other top commanders among those killed.
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In recent days Ukraine said its troops had pushed Russian forces back from Irpin, near Kyiv.
The Ukrainians managed to reoccupy towns and defensive positions up to 21 miles east of the capital.
Despite the victories, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned there would still be hard fighting to come.
"We still have to fight, we have to endure," said Zelenskyy
"This is a ruthless war against our nation, against our people, against our children."
Fighting is also raging in Kherson as Ukrainian forces try to retake first major city to fall into Russian hands.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier opened peace talks in Istanbul recognising "legitimate concerns" on both sides but urging them to "put an end to this tragedy".
Russian oligarch and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who has been hit by Western sanctions, was also in attendance.
He was pictured for the first time since reports emerged he had been poisoned during earlier talks .
The first day of the war saw Russian helicopters swarm towards Kyiv in a bid to knock out the government and replace President Volodymyr Zelensky with a pro-Moscow puppet.
But the Ukrainians beat back the assault and then inflicted devastating losses on a Russian armoured column heading to the capital, near the town of Bucha.
It comes as...
- Vladimir Putin and his inner circle are reportedly living in top-secret nuclear bunkers as the bloody war unfolds in Ukraine.
- Roman Abramovich has been pictured for the first time since claims he was poisoned during Ukraine war peace talks.
- A Russian commander has reportedly killed himself after finding out that 90 per cent of his unit's infamous Z tanks are useless.
- Russia has “significantly increased” its military presence in the Arctic Circle since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
- Putin is a threat to everybody but he is losing the war badly and is humiliated – a swift peace deal is in his interests
- A female Russian sniper with 40 kills to her name was captured after being abandoned on the battlefield.
- A kickboxing world champion has been killed while fighting in the besieged city of Mariupol.
As Putin's invasion falters, Ukraine's military intelligence said he wants to split Ukraine in half like North and South Korea.
It come after the Kremlin declared that the first stage of its campaign to “denazify and demilitarise” Ukraine was a success - and it'll now focus its efforts on breakaway province Donetsk.
That announcement was widely seen as an acknowledgement Putin had failed in his goal to topple the government in Kyiv.
Ukraine is now littered with the burnt out wrecks of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, charred remains of downed aircraft, and the dead bodies of soldiers - many of whom were teenage conscripts.
As the fighting takes its toll on Russian troops, stories are beginning to emerge of anger and plummeting morale.
One soldier allegedly killed his commanding officer as he protested horrific losses among his comrades.
Russia accidentally revealed it has lost 10,000 troops, when the figure was disclosed by a pro-Kremlin newspaper.
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But Nato has said that figure could be as high as 15,000 with the total losses including wounded, captured or missing up to 40,000.
If the estimate is correct, then Russian losses in just under a month in Ukraine are now the same as they suffered during their ten year war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.
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