The demilitarization of Russia is “well underway,” Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday as the conflict in Ukraine has entered its second month.
According to Kyslytsya, Russian forces have lost over 17,000 military personnel, over 1,700 armored vehicles, and almost 600 tanks since its invasion of Ukraine over a month ago.
Russia itself announced Tuesday it would scale back military operations near Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. But Ukrainian military officials said they distrust Russia’s announced withdrawal, and American officials remained skeptical.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was no reason to believe Russia’s announcement that it would reduce military activity near Kyiv, the capital, as well as in the northern city of Chernihiv, given what’s still happening on the ground.
“We can call those signals that we hear at the negotiations positive,” he said in his nightly video address to the Ukrainian people. “But those signals don’t silence the explosions of Russian shells.”
In-person negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are expected to resume Wednesday.
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