Ukraine recaptures Izyum. Zelensky: “Shooting 2 thousand sq km”

The Ukrainian counter-offensive bears fruit. The Russian troops are withdrawing from key areas of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region including Izyum, Moscow’s defense ministry said, as Kiev’s counter-offensive to regain the territory gains momentum. Russian troops would also withdraw from the city of Balakliya, which the Ukrainians said they had liberated last week.

Kupiansk also freed. “SSU members are in Kupiansk which is and always has been Ukrainian! We will free every inch of our land!” Announced the Ukrainian Security Service (SSU), quoted by Ukrainska Pravda.

Kupiansk is located along what used to be the front line between the Russians and the Ukrainians. According to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War, the city was “a key logistical hub” for the supplies of the Russian forces. A map shared on Twitter by Finnish services analyst Veli-Pekka Kivimaki highlights how many railway lines in northeastern Ukraine pass through Kupiansk.

Several pro-Russian Telegram channels admit that Ukrainian forces have taken control of Kupiansk and that Russian troops have also left the city of Izyum.

Zelensky – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that since the beginning of the month the Ukrainian army has recaptured some 2,000 square kilometers of territory in areas previously occupied by Russia. In his daily evening speech, Zelensky thanked all the soldiers who participated in the reconquest of the territory in the Kharkiv region. The Russian army made a “good choice” by fleeing, it said: “There is and will not be room for the occupiers in Ukraine.”

“These days the Russian army is giving its best, showing its back. And, after all, it is a good choice for them to escape. There is and will not be room for the occupiers in Ukraine,” he said. again the Ukrainian president after the confirmation of the Russian defense ministry of the withdrawal of the forces of Moscow from Izyum and Balakliya, in the eastern Ukrainian oblast of Kharkiv. The city of Kupiansk, considered a key logistical hub “for the supplies of the Russian forces, was also freed from the troops of Kiev.

According to the latest British intelligence assessment, published on the Defense Ministry’s Twitter account, Kiev’s forces advanced “up to 50 kilometers into previously Russian-controlled territory” in the Kharkiv region. Russian forces are under pressure “on both the northern and southern flanks” of the conflict, it has been pointed out. Yesterday, Zelensky said Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than 30 towns and villages in the Kharkiv region.

Russian officials based in the Kharkiv region have meanwhile urged residents of areas previously under their control to flee as Ukrainian forces gain ground. “I once again recommend that all residents of the Kharkiv region leave the area to protect their lives and health,” Russian military administration chief Vitaly Gantshev said Saturday, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Fly: “It is not withdrawal, troops in Donbass” – In a statement released by Ria Novosti, the Russian Defense Ministry explained that the decision was made to “regroup Russian troops stationed in the Balakliya and Izyum regions” and “step up the efforts in Donetsk “in order to achieve” the objectives set with the special military operation “and” free “the Donbass. The same source then announced that several” diversions and demonstration events “were organized to hide” the real troop actions “and allow withdrawal.