Ukraine Reclaims 15 Settlements Near Kyiv: Military Chiefs

Ukrainian army chiefs stated Friday morning that its forces had liberated 15 settlements within the Kyiv area, as a contemporary spherical of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia resumed by way of video.

In an replace on social media, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated its items had restored management over the settlements of Demydiv, Dymer, Lytvynivka, Gavrylivka, Kozarovychi, Zhovtneve, Hlybivka, Yasnohorodka, Talakun, Sukoluchchya, Lypivka, Gavronshchyna, Makovyshche, Mykolaivka, Khmilna, in Ukraine’s Kyiv Oblast.

“The thirty-seventh day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to the Russian military invasion continues,” the submit learn. “The Russian Federation continues to conduct full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine.”

The replace got here as Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stated Friday that Russian troops had been starting to fall again amid resistance from Ukrainian forces northeast and northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

In an evaluation on Wednesday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby stated that Russia is probably going “repositioning a small percentage of the troops and the battalion tactical groups that Russia had arrayed against Kyiv.”

A day earlier, Russia stated it might considerably cut back army operations close to the capital.

Kirby advised reporters that about 20 p.c of Russian forces had began to maneuver away from Kyiv. He famous that none of Russia’s forces seem like returning “to their home garrison.”

“Some of those troops we assess are repositioning into Belarus. We don’t have an exact number for you, but that’s our early assessments,” the Pentagon press secretary stated throughout a information briefing.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin “is serious about de-escalating,” then Moscow ought to “send them (troops) home.”

“But they’re not doing that, at least not yet. So that’s not what we’re seeing,” Kirby added.

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for remark.

Moscow determined to “fundamentally … cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv” to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations” amid ongoing negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Moscow suggested that a purported air strike by Ukraine against a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday could impact future negotiations.

“Of course, this isn’t one thing that may be perceived as creating snug situations for the continuation of negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

It marks the first accusation of a Ukrainian air strike on Russian soil since the start of Putin’s invasion on February 24, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Friday that he couldn’t comment on Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the strike due to a lack of information.

“I can neither verify nor reject the declare that Ukraine was concerned on this just because I don’t possess all of the army info,” he said, when pressed on the issue.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said on Friday that a new round of talks with Russia began via video link.