Zelenskyy says Russia hit by ‘powerful blows’, ‘significant losses’ inflicted as aggressor appears to shift strategy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s military has delivered “powerful blows” against Russian forces leading to “significant losses”.

Speaking in his nightly video address, he said about 16,000 Russian soldiers had been killed conflicting Russia figure that says about 1,300 of its troops have died in the fighting.

Rudskoi said 1,351 Russian soldiers had died in the operation and 3,825 had been injured. Russia’s military had not given an official casualty figure since March 2, when it said 498 soldiers had been killed.

“The armed forces continue to repel enemy attacks in the south of the country, in Donbas, in the Kharkiv direction, and in the Kyiv region,” he told Ukrainians late on Friday. “By restraining Russia’s actions, our defenders are leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: Talk is necessary. Meaningful. Urgent. Fair.”

The United Kingdom said on Friday that Ukrainian troops were recapturing towns east of Kyiv, and Russian forces which had been trying to seize the capital were falling back on overextended supply lines, an indication of a shift in momentum in the fighting.

Since the first days of the war, analysts suggested the Russian military may have been caught off-guard by the level of pushback by Ukrainian fighters.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian resistance may mean that Russia is changing its strategy to more limited goals and focusing on Donbas.

Russia has claimed that the first phase of its “military operation” in Ukraine was mostly complete and that it would focus on completely “liberating” eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

The announcement on Friday appeared to indicate that Russia may be switching to more limited goals after running into fierce Ukrainian resistance in the first month of the war in Ukraine.

The defence ministry said Russian-backed separatists now controlled 93 percent of Ukraine’s Luhansk region and 54 percent of the Donetsk region – the two areas that jointly make up the Donbas.

“The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been accomplished,” Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate, said.

“The combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been considerably reduced, which … makes it possible to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbas.”

He said Russian forces had “practically” destroyed Ukraine’s air force and anti-aircraft defences, as well as the navy. Despite that claim, Ukrainian fighter jets have continued flying sorties from bases in western Ukraine.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what it called a “special operation” to weaken its southern neighbour’s military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.

The West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.

The United Nations says more than 3.6 million people, mostly women, and children, have already fled Ukraine, while some 10 million have been internally displaced.