As the Russian president’s troops suffered a series of setbacks, Moscow said the “special military operation” would now focus on the “main goal, the liberation of Donbass”. There were hopes that the move could amount to de-escalation of the invasion, as Ukrainian troops are believed to be regaining ground around the capital, Kiev. Western intelligence also suggested that a Russian brigade commander, Colonel Medvechek, was deliberately destroyed and killed by his own troops. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson confronted Chinese President Xi Jinping in a “candid and honest” debate as Western allies tried to pressure Beijing to offer no support to Moscow. In a brief reading after the 50-minute telephone conversation, a spokesman for No. 10 said they discussed “a number of issues of mutual interest”, including the situation in Ukraine. The contact came after NATO leaders urged China to “refrain” from supporting Russia’s war effort and to refrain from any action that would help it circumvent sanctions. In the besieged city of Mariupol, authorities said about 300 people had been killed in a Russian airstrike earlier this month at a theater where hundreds of people were taking refuge. If confirmed, it could lead to new calls for Western powers to step up military support for Ukrainian forces. President of China Xi Jinping (Shuji Kajiyama / AP) (AP) Faced with unexpectedly fierce resistance, the Russian Defense Ministry said that having completed the “first phase” of the military operation, its forces would focus on the Donbas region, which is partly dominated by Moscow-backed separatist guerrillas. In his overnight speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 16,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the conflict, as he called on Moscow to negotiate an end to the war, but warned it would not cede sovereign territory. Western officials said the Russian statement was an acknowledgment that its forces were overstretched and may need to “shut down” operations around Kyiv and other cities while focusing on the east of the country. “It is clear that Russia recognizes that it can not continue its operations on many axes at the same time,” said one official. “Therefore, it must concentrate its power, especially its supply and firepower, on a more limited number of approaches.” The former British ambassador to the United States, Lord Darroch, believed that Putin was trying to redefine his goals, saying from the outset that one of them was to “seek out” the government in Kyiv. “I think he is trying to come up with his own version of events first. “It’s a pretty volatile story, let’s face it, but it tries to create the narrative in the hope that the Russian people will buy it and hide how bad it has gone,” he told BBC Newsnight. The former diplomat said “it is certain that this was not really the plan”, adding: “They did not start a multi-faceted invasion a month ago to say now that in fact it is only Luhansk and Donetsk.” An assessment by intelligence from the UK Department of Defense said the Ukrainians continued to repel Russian forces advancing on the capital. “Ukrainian counterattacks and Russian forces retreating to oversupply supply lines have allowed Ukraine to retake cities and defenses up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Kiev,” he said. A man rides a bicycle as black smoke rises from a fuel storage tank following a Russian attack on the outskirts of Kiev (Rodrigo Abd / AP) (AP) NATO estimates that in four weeks of fighting, between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed in battle – compared with 15,000 lost in 10 years in Afghanistan. A Western official said that of the 115 to 120 battalions that the Russians had at the beginning of the operation, 20 were no longer “effective in battle.” In other news, Environment Minister Victoria Prenti told the Telegraph that she had received a Ukrainian refugee who is a friend of the MP’s daughter.
