President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that Russian forces have not even begun fighting “seriously” in Ukraine, as their offensive appeared to be slowing in the eastern part of the country.
“Everyone should know that, in general, we haven’t really started anything yet,” he told Kremlin lawmakers.
The comments came just days after Russian forces claimed control of Lysychansk, and with it all of Luhansk, one of the two provinces that make up the industrial region of Ukraine’s Donbass. The capture of the city brought Moscow closer to its stated goal of capturing the Donbas, which the Kremlin has declared independent of Kyiv.
But Russian victories at the Donbas have come at a high cost and Russian advances are beginning to slow down.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, DC, said that according to its estimate, Russia had not achieved any territorial advance within Ukraine on Wednesday, the first time in 133 days of war. that the Kremlin won zero.
Firefighters dump a burning car after a strike hit a residential area in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on July 7, 2022. Nariman El-Mofty / AP
“Russia’s Ministry of Defense has been claiming territorial gains every day since the start of the war, but has not claimed any new territory or ground forces since it completed the siege of Lysychansk on July 3.” write the institute.
Focus group analysts said Russian activities were consistent with an “operational pause” in large-scale movements and that “Russian forces are likely to be limited to relatively small-scale offensive actions” as they try to rebuild their offensive capabilities after weeks of hard fighting. .
Although Russia has occupied large parts of Ukrainian territory, the victories have come at the cost of a four-month war effort marred by logistical failures, a withdrawal from the Ukrainian capital and the loss of a flagship of the Russian Navy.
Putin said Russia “has not really started anything yet.” Alexei Nikolsky / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / AP
Amid the excitement of his Thursday speech, Putin seemed to reopen the door to a negotiated end to the conflict.
“We don’t reject peace talks,” he said. “But those who reject them need to know that the farther they go, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us.”
At the same time, this week, encouraged by the arrival of Western artillery and reports of Russian military losses, Ukrainian officials set a high bar for negotiations with the Kremlin.
An injured woman looks at her wounds in an ambulance after a strike hit a residential area of Ukraine. Nariman El-Mofty / AP A 66-year-old man was injured in a Russian attack in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Nariman El-Mofty / AP
On Twitter, Mykhailo Podolyak, Kyiv’s chief negotiator, gave a list of conditions for his delegation to return to the table.
“A ceasefire. [Russian] withdrawal of troops. Return of abducted citizens. Extradition of war criminals. Repair mechanism. The recognition of the sovereign rights of Ukraine “, he wrote.
With post cables