KYIV/KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces, which continued their counter-offensive against the Russian army on Monday, recaptured “more than 20 localities” in 24 hours, territorial gains in addition to the reconquest of Izium and Kupiansk, two logistics centers in the Kharkiv region (East), announced the Ukrainian general staff.
“We are proceeding with total control (of the localities) and stabilization measures,” he said Monday morning.
After 201 days of conflict, Moscow acknowledged military setbacks, with thousands of Russian soldiers retreating, leaving behind large stocks of ammunition and equipment.
A pro-Russian official in the Kharkiv region, Vitali Gantchev, told state broadcaster Rossiya-24 on Monday that Ukrainian forces, which launched their blitzkrieg counteroffensive last week, had vastly outnumbered order of one for eight, the Russian troops and their allies.
The fighting continues nonetheless.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported aerial bombardment of Ukrainian positions in the Kharkiv region.
Russian troops fired missiles on Sunday at power stations, causing widespread power outages in the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava and Sumy.
“Russian occupiers have struck strategic infrastructure in the city and region of Kharkiv,” Kharkiv Governor Olegh Sinehoubov said on Telegram. “In several urban centers, there is no longer any water or electricity. Fires broke out where these strikes occurred.”
MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL
Kyiv denounced acts of revenge targeting civilian populations after territorial inroads by the Ukrainian army. Russian authorities say they are not targeting civilians as part of their “special operation” launched on February 24.
Electricity had been restored in Kharkiv on Monday morning, according to Reuters reporters, but the city was still without running water.
The regional governor reported an 80% restoration of the electricity network.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, Moscow has ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entire Kharkiv region, west of the Oskil, a tributary of the Donets, de facto abandoning the main supply route for troops that had been deployed in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities claim that the decline is more significant: according to the general staff, the Russians withdrew from Svatove, in the province of Luhansk, about twenty kilometers east of the Oskil.
Reuters was unable to confirm this information.
London adds that the Russian army is struggling to ferry supplies to the front line in the south, where Ukrainian forces continued their slower deep advance to isolate thousands of Russian soldiers on the west bank of the Dnieper (Dnipro in Ukrainian).
“The rapid successes of the Ukrainians have significant implications for the Russian operational plan. The majority of Russian troops are forced to give priority to emergency defensive actions,” notes the British army.
The Russian army suffered its heaviest setback since the abortive offensive against Kyiv in March.
“WE MUST WIN THIS WAR”
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Valeri Zalouzhny, said on Sunday that his forces had regained control of some 3,000 km2 of territory since the beginning of September, advancing up to 50 kilometers from the border with Russia.
Denis Pushilin, head of the pro-Russian administration of Donetsk province, conceded Sunday evening on Telegram that the situation was difficult for the Russian army.
“We nevertheless managed to stop the enemy in Lyman”, a town east of Izioum, he wrote. “We’ll see how it all develops, but our boys have successes to their credit,” he added, also referring to the situation in Bakhmout and Vouhledar, further south.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken publicly since this reversal in an already six-month-long conflict, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured Monday during a conference call with journalists that Russia would reach her goals”.
The Russian Ministry of Defense on Saturday presented the withdrawals from Izium and Balakliia, a neighboring town, as an operation of “regrouping” for offensive actions in the province of Donetsk.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced Monday on the part of the Russian authorities “the intimidation, restrictive measures and sanctions against people expressing their opposition to the war in Ukraine”.
“We must win this war in Ukraine! We must liquidate the Nazi regime,” said a commentator during a debate on the Russian television channel NTV.
“And how long will it last? My children, who are 10 years old, will they be called upon to fight?” replied another speaker.
(Reuters offices, French version Sophie Louet)