Ukraine believes Russia still plans to capture Kyiv

Ukrainian defense officials on Wednesday said they believe Russian President Vladimir Putin still intends to capture Kyiv in order to absorb the country as a new Russian state into its federation. 

Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Department of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Oleksiy Gromov, told reporters that Russia’s aim in concentrating its efforts in eastern and southern Ukraine is part of a bigger plan to take the entire nation.

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Russia withdrew its efforts to take the capital city of Kyiv in late March after it failed to make any major advances following a months-worth of attempts to take the city from three different directions.