Rudskoi says the main goal is to free Donbass
- The Russian Army Chief of Staff, SERGEI Rudskoi, has stated that "the objectives of the first phase of the military operation have been achieved successfully, destroying the greatest potential of the Ukrainian forces". He has therefore announced that, from now on, they will put their forces "in the liberation of the East Donbass region". In recent weeks, Russian forces have occupied a large number of lands in Donbass and Mariupol is an example of this, as more and more districts of this city are under siege under the control of the Russian Army and the militias of the Donetsk People's Republic. On the other hand, several reporters of the chain in Kiev have assured that the Russian Army is losing strength on the North Front and that Ukrainian forces are making increasing efforts to recover the land.