Podolyak also said that from the start of the war Ukraine was asking for “a ceasefire so that all humanitarian problems can be resolved.”
The Kremlin spokesperson Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, “the main targets of the first stage of the operation have been achieved.”
Updated war map
On Monday, Ukrainian officials announced they have retaken the town of Irpin, as the military pushed back Russian forces Northwest of Kyiv, and large areas including the town of Trostyanets, are Ukrainian some 20 miles from the border with Russia.
The Kremlin has pledged to reduce some combat operations. But both Ukraine drone footage and a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry show short-range ballistic missiles are constantly firing at targets in Ukraine.
Ukraine is claiming that the battered city of Mariupol is back under its control. And the people left in the port city are experiencing a “scorched earth” Russian bombardment.
In a televised address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “Russian troops control the north of Kyiv region” and that “Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions, Donbas, southern Ukraine — the situation everywhere remains tense, very difficult.”
