‘A TURNING POINT’: In a nighttime video address to his people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the latest “peace” negotiations with Russia as only “words, with no specifics” and said the “alleged withdrawal” of Russian forces around Kyiv and Chernihiv was due to heavy losses inflicted by Ukrainian defenders, not a sign of Russian goodwill.

“We know this is not a withdrawal, but the consequences of exile, consequences of the work of our defenders,” Zelensky said. “We do not believe anyone. We do not trust any beautiful verbal constructions. There is a real situation on the battlefield.”