Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive in the east of the country on Sunday, capitalizing on the gains they made during a week of fighting that has changed the course of the conflict.
Ukrainian moves to recapture Russian-occupied areas in the northeastern Kharkiv region forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them from being encircled, leaving behind a significant number of weapons and ammunition in a hasty withdrawal as the war turns 200 days on Sunday. .
Ukraine’s military chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyy said on Sunday that Ukraine had liberated some 3,000 square kilometers since the beginning of September. He pointed out that his troops are only 50 kilometers from the Russian border.
The Russian withdrawal marked the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted an attempt to seize the capital, kyiv, at the start of the war. Ukraine’s attack in the Kharkiv region came as a surprise to Moscow, which had moved many of its troops from the area to the south in anticipation of the main Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the troop withdrawal from Izyum and other areas of the Kharkiv region was aimed at strengthening Russian forces in the neighboring Donetsk region to the south.
The cluster of Russian forces around Izyum has been key to Moscow’s effort to capture the Donetsk region. Their withdrawal will drastically weaken Russia’s ability to push its offensive toward the Ukrainian strongholds of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, just to the south.
Just as Russian forces were withdrawing from Izyum under Ukrainian fire, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening of a massive observation wheel in a Moscow park, a new transport link and a sports stadium.
The action underscored the Kremlin’s attempt to underscore the idea that the “special military operation” was going according to plan.
In a sign of a possible break in the Russian leadership, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, said the withdrawal from the Kharkiv region was the result of the military’s mistakes.
“They made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions,” Kadyrov said. “If they do not make changes to the strategy of carrying out the special military operation in the next one or two days, I will be forced to contact the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the leadership of the country to explain the real situation on the ground.”
Associated Press/OnCuba.
