Russia has announced that the first phase of its military operation, as it calls it, in Ukraine has for the most part been completed and that it will now focus on “fully” liberating the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
The announcement seems to indicate that Russia may be shifting to more limited targets after being confronted with strong resistance of Ukraine in the first month of the war, according to Reuters.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that separatists, backed by Russia, now control 93% of the Luhansk region and 54% of the Donetsk region, the two areas that make up Donbass.
“The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have been achieved in general,” said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the operations department of the Russian General Staff.
“The combat potential of the Ukrainian armed forces has been significantly reduced, which makes it possible to focus our main efforts on achieving our main goal, the liberation of Donbas.”
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