Russian troops near Kyiv half-encircled, low on munitions: Last report by Oksana Baulina, The Insider's journalist killed in Ukraine

The Russian group of forces outside Kyiv had been half-encircled, wrote The Insider's correspondent Oksana Baulina, citing sources from the Ukrainian intelligence. According to them, full encirclement is not yet possible, but they have cut off the Russians' supply of munitions and reinforcement almost entirely.

“Our objective is to gain control over logistic convoys. The fighters will surrender once they have nothing to shoot with. Munitions are key. If they can fire back at us, that’s what they’ll do. If they are out of fuel, the tanks will be stranded. But they have to move around because we can see them. And man are these tanks fuel-hungry! Once they can’t move, they become an easy target,” a Ukrainian military intelligence officer explained to The Insider.

He also says Ukrainian soldiers are tracking the movement of Russian tanks. Ukrainian troops only launch attacks within territories vacated by civilians. Moreover, evacuating civilians is among their humanitarian objectives. “We move those who can’t travel on their own or have nowhere to go. It takes a long time to convince people to leave their homes, especially the elderly. When there’s an all-out evacuation, it’s different, of course.” Meanwhile, Russian forces are impeding the exit of civilians, says the intelligence officer.

“Moreover, they forcibly move them to Belarus and make them thank their ‘Russian saviors’ on camera, hailing the ‘liberation troops’ and wishing death on President Zelensky. It’s their information warfare.”

This was the last news item Oksana Baulina submitted for publication before her tragic death in Kyiv on March 23, 2022.