Russian MOD Agrees To Drastically Reduce Military Activity In Kyiv And Chernihiv
MOSCOW - The Russian Ministry of Defense says that they have agreed to 'drastically reduce' military activity in Chernihiv and Kyiv in order to 'increase trust' in peace talks, "Due to the fact negotiations on the preparation of an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine ... are moving into practice".
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin made the announcement in a broadcast from Istanbul on Russia-24 saying that Russia will "to radically, at times, reduce military activity". One thing to note however, is that 'drastically reduce' does not mean that they will cease military operations altogether.
The announcement was issued after peace talks were carried out in Istanbul that negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine said were constructive. The two sides will likely meet again within a few weeks time according to Ukraine's lead negotiator.
Fomin told reporters, "Due to the fact that negotiations on the preparation of an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine, as well as on the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine, are moving into practice, taking into account the principles discussed during today's meeting, by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing on the signing of the above agreement, a decision was made to radically, at times, reduce military activity in the Kiev and Chernigov direction".
Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had stated that "certain units" of Russia's military were withdrawing from Kyiv and Chernihiv, stating on its official Facebook page on Tuesday that the "The Russian enemy did not meet the goal of its offensive operation".
The Armed Forces of Ukraine also claimed that the Russian military is having a difficult time reinforcing and rotating in new soldiers due to the "refusal of personnel to participate in the so-called special operation" and are "not able to staff even one battalion-tactical group".
The British Ministry of Defense had put out an intelligence update today saying "Ukrainian Forces have continued to conduct localized counter attacks to the north west of Kyiv - including at Irpen, Bucha and Hostomel. These attacks have had some success and the Russians have been pushed back from a number of positions".
"However, Russia still poses a significant threat to the city through their strike capability" it continued. "Russian Forces have maintained their offensive on Mariupol with continuous heavy shelling of the city, however the center of the city remains under Ukrainian control. Elsewhere, Russian Forces are maintaining blocking positions while attempting to reorganize and reset their forces".