Senior UK defence experts believe Russian forces may only have another ‘10 to 14’ days of fighting left, amid reports that Kyiv has Moscow ‘on the run’.
According to UK defence sources, the Russian army could be just two weeks away from a ‘culmination point’, after which ‘the strength of Ukraine’s resistance should become greater than Russia’s attacking force’, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a similarly optimistic update in an early-morning address to his people, stating that his military continues to inflict ‘devastating losses on Russian troops’.
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'Soon the number of downed helicopters of Russia will reach hundreds of units,' he said.
“They have already lost 80 warplanes, hundreds of tanks and thousands of other units of equipment. In 19 days, the Russian army has lost more in Ukraine than in two bloody and years-long wars in Chechnya.”
This will come as welcome news, considering Russia’s tactics have become increasingly more brutal.
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This morning, March 15, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv saw apartment blocks set ablaze, with Ukraine’s military said to have shot down four Russian helicopters, a jet, and a cruise missile.
However, even Putin’s closest allies have begun to publicly admit that things are not going to plan.
Russian National Guard Chief Viktor Zolotov, who was once in charge of Putin’s personal security, admitted on Tuesday that ‘not everything is going as fast as we would like’.
Nevertheless, he still insisted Russia would achieve victory ‘step by step’.
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The Kremlin has said it may still opt to take control of large cities in Ukraine, such as the port city of Kharkiv, which saw devastating strikes from Russian troops last night.
Controlling Kyiv and other densely populated cities, such as Kharkiv and Chernihiv, would majorly improve Russia’s position, further pushing Putin towards victory.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'The ministry of defence, while ensuring maximum safety of the peaceful population, does not rule out the possibility of placing under its full control major population centres.
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'Inevitably this could lead to a large number of casualties among civilians. US and European Union officials are pushing Russia towards storming major cities with a view to place responsibility for civilian deaths on our country.'
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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News, News