Putin on the run? Russia will now scale back its Ukraine invasion to just ‘liberating’ the eastern Donbas region 'in an attempt to save face' as Western intelligence says they have lost 20 BATTALIONS

• Russia's defence ministry also updated its losses in Ukraine to 1,351 soldiers
• Figure is far lower than Western intelligence estimates over tens of thousands
• Moscow today attempted to put a positive spin on its disastrous invasion
• It said it had achieved its targets in the country, despite being pushed back
• In another embarrassing blow, it was revealed today that a Russian brigade commander had died after being run down with a tank by his own troops 
• Despite apparent change in tactics artillery strikes on Ukraine's cities continued 

By CHRIS JEWERS FOR MAILONLINE-25 March 2022 

Ukraine has disabled 20 Russian battalions, Western officials said today, as a Kremlin army chief hinted that Moscow may scale back its all-out attack on its neighbour and instead focus on 'liberating' the eastern Donbas region.

Russia's defence ministry also updated its losses in Ukraine to 1,351 soldiers, adding that 3,825 soldiers had been wounded - figures that are far lower than Western intelligence estimates that put Moscow's losses in the tens of thousands. 

In a military update today, Moscow attempted to put a positive spin on its disastrous invasion saying that the first phase of its military campaign in Ukraine was over.

But the update - combined with the West's claim that Russia has lost 20 out of the 120 battalions originally massed on Ukraine's border - is the latest sign that Vladimir Putin has rolled back his ambitions, and is on the run.

In another embarrassing blow to Putin, it was revealed today that a Russian brigade commander had died after being run down with a tank by his own troops.

Western officials believe Colonel Yuri Medvedev was brutally taken out by mutinous soldiers after their 37th Motor Rifle Brigade suffered huge losses. 

But despite the apparent change in tactics, smaller-scale strikes continued without pause as Russia, suffering heavy losses and meagre progress against key targets, pursues its relentless campaign of bombardment against Ukraine's cities.

In one attack on Friday, Ukraine said a Russian missile attack had hit a military command centre in the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine. Kyiv officials reported the attack on Friday, adding it was unknown if there were any casualties. 

'Today at around 4.30 p.m, the Russian occupiers launched a missile strike on the territory of the Air Force Command in Vinnytsia,' the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram. 

It posted an image of the alleged centre in rubble and said missiles had hit 'several buildings, causing significant damage to infrastructure'.

Ukraine has disabled 20 Russian battalions, Western officials said today, as a Kremlin army chief hinted that Moscow may scale back its all-out attack on its neighbour and instead focus on 'liberating' the eastern Donbas region. Pictured: (L-R) Sergei Rudskoi, a senior representative of the General Staff, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov and Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defence Control Centre, hold a briefing on Russian military action in Ukraine, in Moscow on March 25, 2022

Russia's defence ministry also updated its losses in Ukraine to 1,351 soldiers, adding that 3,825 soldiers had been wounded - figures that are far lower than Western intelligence estimates that put Moscow's losses in the tens of thousands

(L-R) Sergei Rudskoi, a senior representative of the General Staff, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov and Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defence Control Centre, hold a briefing on Russian military action in Ukraine, in Moscow on March 25, 2022

A Ukrainian soldier passes by a destroyed Russian artillery system 'Grad', in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 24, 2022. But the update - combined with the West's claim that Russia has lost 20 out of the 120 battalions originally massed on Ukraine's border - is the latest sign that Vladimir Putin has rolled back his ambitions, and is on the run

In one attack on Friday, Ukraine said a Russian missile attack had hit a military command centre in the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine. Kyiv officials reported the attack on Friday, adding it was unknown if there were any casualties. The Ukrainian air force posted an image (pictured) of the alleged centre in rubble and said missiles had hit 'several buildings, causing significant damage to infrastructure'

When Russia unleashed its multi-pronged invasion on February 24, a swift toppling of Ukraine and its democratically elected government seemed likely.

But as Wednesday marked four full weeks of fighting, Russia has been bogged down in a grinding military campaign with no sign of progress.

The slow Russian advance has seemingly taken the Kremlin by surprise, and Western officials have said that Moscow made a 'catastrophic miscalculation'.

In a potentially significant shift in Moscow's tactics, Sergei Rudskoi, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of Russia's armed forces, said the first phase of its campaign was over and its troops would now focus on the 'liberation' of the Donbas region in Ukraine's east.

Rudskoi said the shift was possible because 'the combat potential of Ukraine's armed forces has been significantly reduced which allows (us) - I emphasise once again - to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal - the liberation of Donbas.'

The Donbas is the largely Russian-speaking eastern part of the country where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014 and where many residents have expressed support for Moscow. 

In the eight years of fighting, at least 14,000 people have been killed in the region. 

Rudskoi claimed Russian forces had 'practically' destroyed Ukraine's air force and anti-aircraft defences as well as the navy. 

But Rudskoi's comments were contradicted by Ukraine and Britain's Ministry of Defence, which said Russian forces were being pushed back.

'Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to re-occupy towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres (22 miles) east of Kyiv,' Britain's defence ministry said in a daily update. 

In the south, logistical problems and Ukrainian resistance are slowing the Russians as they look to drive west toward the port of Odesa, the ministry added. 

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba indicated no let-up in his country's refusal to accede to Russian demands after what he termed 'very difficult' talks with Moscow.

'We insist, first of all, on a ceasefire, security guarantees, and territorial integrity of Ukraine,' he said. 

And while Mariupol and other places are now charred ruins, Western systems including shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles have helped Ukraine's armed forces hold their line - and increasingly to go on the offensive.

A cyclist rides past by houses destroyed by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 25, 2022

A Western official said Russia's failure to organise so far has been 'remarkable', pouring scorn on the claims that it had achieved the main military objectives.

They said that losses had been 'really high' in some areas. At the outset 115-120 battalion tactical groups were in the Russian force, but 20 battalions were now not thought to be 'combat effective' and had been withdrawn, either because repairs were needed to vehicles or because of massive losses.

In some instances three battalions had been merged together to redeploy.

A Russian battalion typically consists of approximately 600 to 800 officers and soldiers, 200 of which are infantrymen equipped with around 10 tanks and 40 infantry fighting vehicles - such as armoured troop carriers.

A NATO official estimated on Wednesday that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of war in Ukraine, and added that between 30,000 to 40,000 Russian soldiers are estimated to have been killed or wounded in total.

By comparison, Moscow lost about 15,000 soldiers in Afghanistan over 10 years.

Putin is said to be assembling at least 10 more battalions to shore up his army, with officials warning that shows he is going 'all in' behind his 'botched' invasion - and could be preparing to launch a chemical attack to turn the tide. 

Rudskoi said the Russian army did not rule out further attacks on cities, claiming that originally such assaults had not been planned.

Russia has continued to deny it has been deliberately targeting civilian centres, despite swathes of evidence to suggest otherwise.

A local resident points at an apartment building destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 25, 2022

'Initially, we did not plan to storm them in order to prevent destruction and minimise losses among personnel and civilians,' he told reporters.

'Although we do not rule out such a possibility, however, as individual groupings complete their assigned tasks... our forces and means will concentrate on the main thing - the complete liberation of Donbas,' he said, referring to eastern Ukraine.

Senior military officials addressed journalists in Moscow on the 30th day of the Kremlin's military campaign in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a Western official revealed a Russian brigade commander had died after being run down with a tank by his own mutinous troops, in the latest sign that there is a growing dissatisfaction among Putin's forces i the country.

The official said of Colonel Medvedev: 'He was killed by his own troops we believe as a consequence of the scale of losses that had been taken by his brigade. [...] That gives an insight into some of the morale challenges the Russian forces are having.'

The official added that the colonel appeared to have been run down using a tank. 'We believe he was killed by his own troops deliberately,' they said.

The comments came after footage allegedly showed Colonel Medvedev being stretchered into a hospital after suffering severe injuries to his legs was released earlier this week.

The episode has echoes of 'Fragging' during the Vietnam War - when soldiers would take out hated officers by throwing grenades into their tents.

As Russia continued to count its losses, the civilian cost of its medieval invasion rose significantly on Friday as Ukrainian authorities said 300 people were killed in the Russian airstrike last week on a Mariupol theater that was being used as a shelter.

The bloodshed at the theatre fueled allegations Moscow is committing war crimes by killing civilians, whether deliberately or by indiscriminate fire.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on Saturday, March 19, 2022 shows the aftermath of the airstrike on the Mariupol Drama theatre, Ukraine, and the area around it

For days, the government in the besieged and ruined port city was unable to give a casualty count for the March 16 bombardment of the grand, columned Mariupol Drama Theater, where hundreds of people were said to be taking cover, the word 'CHILDREN' printed in Russian in huge white letters on the ground outside to ward off aerial attack.

In announcing the death toll on its Telegram channel Friday, the city government cited eyewitnesses. But it was not immediately clear how witnesses arrived at the figure or whether emergency workers had finished excavating the ruins.

U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Friday the theater bombing was an 'absolute shock, particularly given the fact that it was so clearly a civilian target.' He said it showed 'a brazen disregard for the lives of innocent people.'

The scale of devastation in Mariupol, where bodies have been left unburied amid bomb craters and hollowed-out buildings, has made information difficult to obtain.

But soon after the attack, the Ukrainian Parliament's human rights commissioner said more than 1,300 people had taken shelter in the theater, many of them because their homes had been destroyed. The building had a basement bomb shelter, and some survivors did emerge from the rubble after the attack.

'This is a barbaric war, and according to international conventions, deliberate attacks on civilians are war crimes,' said Mircea Geoana, NATO's deputy-secretary general.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to break Ukraine's will to resist are having the opposite effect: 'What he's getting in response is an even more determined Ukrainian army and an ever more united West in supporting Ukraine.'

While the Russians continue to pound the capital from the air, they appear to have gone into a 'defensive crouch' outside Kyiv and are focused more on the Donbas, a senior U.S. defense official said.

'They don't show any signs of being willing to move on Kyiv from the ground,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe an internal U.S. military assessment of the war.

The official also said the U.S. has seen indications that Russia is beginning to draw on Russian soldiers in Georgia for deployment to Ukraine. The official offered no numbers and no timeline for the move.