Ukraine says Russia’s advance is ‘significantly slowed’

The Ukrainian military stated that the momentum of the Russian forces’ advance had “slowly slowed down” in the face of resistance from defensive units.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine today posted on Facebook a battlefield update that said that the Ukrainian army is continuing to fight against Russian forces across the country, as the war has entered. day. 13th.

The Ukrainian military said its forces were still defending on three fronts north, east and south, focusing on the capital Kiev and the cities of Chernihiv and Mykolaiv. “The enemy continued to advance, but their momentum has slowed significantly,” the report said.

The Ukrainian side claimed that its air force “successfully repelled” Russian air and missile attacks and provided fire support to units on the ground, but did not give any details. any proof. prove evidence.

The British Ministry of Defense on March 7 also released its latest intelligence report, which assessed that Russian forces had only minimally advanced over the weekend. “Russia is unlikely to achieve its previously set goals,” the British intelligence report said, adding that “Ukraine’s size and resistance continues to surprise Russia.”

The Russian military is said to have made significant progress in southern Ukraine, but in the north, many of its operations are stalled, such as a 64km long convoy of military convoys being stopped on the outskirts of Kiev. several days.

Russia has not commented on reports that its forces have slowed down their offensive in Ukraine recently. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 6 that the operation was going according to plan and would not end until the Kiev authorities stopped resisting and implemented the demands made by Moscow.

After launching a military operation on February 24, Russia took control of the southern city of Kherson and besieged Mariupol in the southeast, and Kharkov in northeastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military announced it had regained control of the city of Chuhuiv in the northeastern part of the country, as well as the strategic Mykolaiv airport in the south. However, these claims have not been verified.

The Russian Coordination Center for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine announced a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors in five cities, including Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol to evacuate civilians to Russia or Belarus.

However, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said that a new humanitarian corridor has been opened in the city of Sumy. “The two sides have agreed that the first evacuation convoy will depart at 10:00 am (Hanoi time) from Sumy city. Following the convoy are the private vehicles of local people,” Ms. Vereshchuk announced. on television.

Russia and Ukraine have so far gone through three rounds of negotiations, but failed to achieve breakthrough results on a ceasefire to end the conflict. The two countries agreed to continue their dialogue and hope to make concrete progress.