Ukrainian troops yesterday piled pressure on retreating Russian forces, pressing a counteroffensive that has produced major gains and a stunning blow to Moscow’s military prestige.
It was not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz in the northeast after months of little discernible movement could signal a turning point in the nearly seven-month war, but Ukrainian officials were buoyant, releasing footage showing their forces burning Russian flags and inspecting abandoned charred tanks.
In one video, border guards tore down a poster that read: “We are one people with Russia.”
Photo: Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy late on Monday said that his troops had retaken more than 6,000km2 — an area more than twice the size of Luxembourg — in a matter of weeks.
“The movement of our troops continues,” he said.
Among the latest claims, Ukraine’s border guard services said the army took control of Vovchansk — a town just 3km from Russia seized on the first day of the war.
While every individual claim of military success could not be verified, Russia acknowledged that it has withdrawn troops from areas in the northeastern region of Kharkiv.
Reports of chaos abounded as Russian troops pulled out — as well as claims that they were surrendering en masse. Ukraine officials have said they have captured so many soldiers that they are struggling to house them.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said Kyiv is trying to persuade even more Russian soldiers to give up, launching shells filled with flyers ahead of their advance.
“Russians use you as cannon fodder. Your life doesn’t mean anything for them. You don’t need this war. Surrender to Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the flyers read.
In one indication of the blow sustained by Moscow, British intelligence said that one premier force, the 1st Guards Tank Army, had been “severely degraded” during the invasion and that “Russia’s conventional force designed to counter NATO is severely weakened. It will likely take years for Russia to rebuild this capability.”
However, the retreat did not stop Russia from pounding Ukrainian positions.
Early yesterday, it shelled the city of Lozova in the Kharkiv region, killing three people and injuring nine, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Zelenskiy specifically criticized Russia for targeting energy infrastructure over the past days.
“Hundreds and thousands of Ukrainians found themselves in the dark — without electricity. Houses, hospitals, schools, communal infrastructure, sites that have absolutely nothing to do with the infrastructure of the armed forces of our country,” he said.
He said it could only point to one thing.
“This is a sign of the desperation of those who contrived this war. This is how they react to the defeat of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. They can’t do anything to our heroes on the battlefield,” Zelenskiy said.
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