Russia says it will reduce military operations around Kyiv following talks with Ukraine

Russia said it would “drastically reduce” its military assault on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv after talks took place between representatives of the two nations on Tuesday that appeared to show signs of progress towards an off ramp to the conflict.

The Russian defense ministry has decided to “radically, at times, reduce military activity” in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv, deputy defense minister Alexander Fomin said, state media RIA reported. The ministry’s Telegram channel also said that Moscow would “drastically reduce military activity” in the cities.

The announcement comes after Ukrainian and Western intelligence assessments suggested in recent days that Russia’s advance on Kyiv was stalling.

Talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday covered an array of important issues, including the future of the eastern Donbas region, the fate of Crimea, a broad alliance of security guarantors and a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Fomin told reporters that the ongoing discussions regarding the “neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine” had contributed to the decision. More details on the steps to reduce hostilities will follow after the Russian delegation returns from Istanbul, Fomin said in remarks carried by Russian state news agency TASS.

Despite the announcement, intense fighting continued around the suburbs of Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon, especially in the northwest and northeast of the city.

Ukraine echoed the announcement regarding the reduction in military action, saying some Russian troops were pulling back from Kyiv and Chernihiv.

MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE - MARCH 10: A burnt out Russian Tigr fighting vehicle sits long a road, the Z letter on the door denoting its Russian origin as Ukraine Army troops dig in at frontline trench positions to continue repelling Russian attacks, east of the strategic port city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on March 10, 2022. Ukrainian forces have fended off several concerted ground attacks, with Russian forces coming northwest from Crimea and via Kherson, and filing frequent missile and rockets strikes on the city, Ukrainian officers and officials say they are optimistic that they can continue to stop the Russian southern advance along the Black Sea coast. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Russia says first phase of war is over as its advances in Ukraine appear to have stalled

“The Russian enemy did not meet the goal of its offensive operation,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an official Facebook update Tuesday, adding that “certain units” of Russia’s military were withdrawing from battlefronts in the cities.

However it warned of a “high risk” of Russian troops attacking military and civilian infrastructure. The Russian military, it claimed, was struggling to reinforce and rotate 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.”

Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency, said Russia’s operations around Kyiv had failed and it was now impossible for the Russian army to overthrow the Ukrainian government. Putin’s war is now focused on the south and the east of the country, he said.

“There is reason to believe that he is considering a ‘Korean’ scenario for Ukraine,” said Budanov. “That is, [Russian forces] will try to impose a dividing line between the unoccupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine.”

Still, enough progress was made during Tuesday’s talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to allow Putin and Zelensky to meet, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.

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Ukrainian firefighters attend to the site of a missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on October 6.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a BM-21 'Grad' multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions in the Kharkiv region on October 4.

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Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters attend to a fire at an oil depot in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 2.

A firefighter extinguishes a burning hospital building hit by a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 1.

Russian tanks near the settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 29.

Students at a military school write letters to Ukrainian servicemen during a lesson in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 27.

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Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a towed howitzer FH-70 at the front line in the Donbas region, Ukraine, on July 18.

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Local residents look on as smoke rises after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A wounded woman is transported to an ambulance in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

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An aerial view of rescue workers after a missile attack in the Serhiivka district of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 1.

People attend a funeral ceremony for Ukrainian serviceman Volodymyr Kochetov, 46, in the village of Babyntsi, Ukraine, on June 30.

Firefighters clear rubble at the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine, on June 28.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters work to take away debris at a shopping mall after a rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on June 28.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a working session of G7 leaders via video link from his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday June 27.

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Ukrainian service members patrol an area in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on June 20.

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Russian servicemen guard an area of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on June 13.