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Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Wednesday that Russian troops have surrounded Ukrainian forces in two key eastern Ukrainian cities and offered to negotiate a deal for their surrender. Ukrainian military officials vehemently denied this claim.
Putin speaking at a meeting with wounded soldiers moscow The military hospital suggested that the Russian military was willing to open safe corridors for Ukrainian and Western journalists to “let them see with their own eyes what is happening.”
He claimed Ukrainian troops were surrounded in Pokrovsk, Ukraine’s main stronghold in the east. Donetsk region, and in Kupyansk, which is an important rail junction in the north-eastern Kharkiv Area.
Russia has recently been increasing its significant advantage in troops and weapons at key points along a front line of nearly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), nearly four years after it invaded its neighbor.
But Ukrainian armed forces said claims of encirclement of Kupyansk are “fabrications and fantasies”, while Ukraine’s eastern army spokesman Hryhory Shapoval told The Associated Press that the situation in Pokrovsk is “difficult but under control”.
The Ukrainian army’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, which is defending Pokrovsk, said Russia had deployed about 11,000 troops to surround the city. In a social media post it was acknowledged that some Russian units had managed to infiltrate Pokrovsk.
Russian officials have made claims in the past of capturing Ukrainian strongholds that have turned out not to be true. Independent verification of the claims was not possible.
Putin’s comments match his diplomatic efforts to persuade United States of AmericaWhich is seeking a peace agreement to end the war, supporting Ukraine is futile because it cannot hold out against Russian military superiority. He has also emphasized what he says is an improvement in Russia’s nuclear capability as he refuses to back down from its war objectives.
Putin signaled on Wednesday that Russia is ready for a deal to call for the surrender of Ukrainian troops in the two cities. Media visits to the areas, he said, would allow journalists to see “what conditions the surrounded Ukrainian troops are in so that Ukraine’s political leadership can take relevant decisions regarding the fate of its citizens.”
Ukrainian officials and Russian war bloggers have said that small groups of Russian troops are engaged in house-to-house fighting in both Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, while artillery and drones are targeting the streets. The Ukrainian military is increasingly relying on drones to supply troops.
Institute for the Study of War, A Washington The think tank said late Tuesday that Russian forces have advanced into the Pokrovsk area, but “almost certainly do not currently have control over any positions within the city of Pokrovsk.”
It added that the advances “are unlikely to lead to the immediate collapse of the Ukrainian pocket in the Pokrovsk direction.”
When asked about the situation in Kupyansk, Ukraine’s Joint Forces Task Force spokesman Viktor Trehubov said Putin’s claim did not match the ground reality. “Simply put, there is no cordon off,” Trehubov told the AP.
Russian forces have been trying for more than a year to capture Pokrovsk, which Ukraine stopped using as a logistics hub in the region after Russia exerted pressure late last year. The city, which was home to about 60,000 people before the war, is largely in ruins.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued its long-range drone and missile attacks on Russian rear areas in an attempt to disrupt logistics by attacking oil refineries and manufacturing plants.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 100 Ukrainian drones in five regions overnight, with flights briefly suspended at 13 airports, including three in the Moscow region.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its campaign against Ukraine’s power grid and civilian infrastructure in at least six regions. Officials said at least 13 people were injured, including a 9-year-old child.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia fired 126 strike and decoy drones overnight.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine