Phil Stewart, Idrees and Phil Ali

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States believes Russia has given priority to eastern Ukraine’s Donbass over Kyiv in an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations.

Russia earlier said Friday that it had completed the initial phase of its military operations and would now concentrate on liberating Ukraine’s eastern Donbass.

Moscow could be shifting to less important objectives, after facing fierce resistance from the Ukrainians for a month.

According to a senior U.S. diplomat, Russia’s actions on the ground seemed broadly to confirm Moscow’s statement.

The official said that they are prioritizing the matter and that their information would agree with them.

Officials stated that the United States had seen Russian forces grow more aggressively in the Donbass region.

The official said that they had made this a priority.

According to the official, Kherson, which is a region capital with around 250,000 inhabitants, didn’t seem as secure under Russian control and seemed to be in dispute.

After the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russian troops took control of Kherson, the largest urban centre.

The official stated that Russian troops were mainly stalled in Kyiv, and they are setting up defensive positions.

Sergei Rudskoi of Russia’s Main Operational Directorate stated on Friday that 1351 Russian soldiers died during the operation, while 3,825 were injured. According to the Ukrainian military, 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed during combat.

The U.S. Defense official stated that Russia’s combat strength in Ukraine was between 85-90 percent of pre-invasion levels.

The official stated that the United States was showing signs of Russia looking to use its military in Georgia in order to support Ukraine for the first time.

Although it was not clear what their timeline would be or where they would travel, the official stated that they wouldn’t be surprised if they were sent to the Donbass.

Ukrainian officials claim that Russian forces have effectively invaded Chernihiv’s northern city and are bombarding the areas where people live without heat, electricity or water.

A U.S. official stated that Ukrainian forces made incremental progress against Russian troops near Chernihiv.

The Ukrainian government announced that it destroyed the large Russian support vessel at Berdiansk, a Russian-occupied Port on the Sea of Azov.

Officials from the U.S. confirmed that Ukrainian forces destroyed the Russian warship at Berdiansk. However, it wasn’t clear how many people were killed.