Russia has claimed that phase 1 of the military operation in Ukraine has almost been completed.
Russia’s defence ministry said the armed forces would now focus on completely “liberating” eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region.
The announcement appeared to indicate that Russia may be switching to more limited goals after running into fierce Ukrainian resistance in the first month of the war.
Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying that Russian-backed separatists now controlled 93% of Ukraine’s Luhansk region and 54% of the Donetsk region – the two areas that jointly make up the Donbass.
