The Russian ministry of defense has tacitly admitted that their military will be unable to achieve President Vladimir Putin’s main goal of overthrowing the Ukrainian government and occupying many of the major cities like Kyiv.

Instead, the Russian military will concentrate on consolidating and expanding gains made by Russian separatists in the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces are actually recapturing towns on the outskirts of Kyiv and the city of Kherson has been at least partially liberated from Russian control, according to numerous press reports, the Pentagon, and independent sources inside Ukraine.