President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine’s armed forces have retaken about 2,000 square kilometers (770 square miles) of territory from Russian forces since their surprise counteroffensive was launched in the northeast earlier this month.
In his speech on Saturday night, he said: “These days, the Russian military is showing its best: showing its back. And in the end, it’s a good option that they run. There is no and there will be place for the occupiers in Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy spoke after the Russian military was forced to withdraw thousands of troops following a series of crucial battlefield defeats in the northeast, as the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin entered its 200th day.
Ukrainian forces confirmed the liberation of the crucial railway hub of Kupiansk and soon after seized Izium, the main base of Moscow’s forces in the Kharkiv region and perhaps Ukraine’s most significant success in pushing back the Russians from the beginning of the invasion.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Kyiv that Ukrainian forces had proven they were capable of defeating the Russian military with the weapons they were given. “And so I repeat: The more weapons we get, the faster we win and the faster this war ends,” he said.
Ukrainian troops had also liberated the villages of Vasylenkovo and Artemivka in the Kharkiv region, Zelensky said.
Within hours of the fall of Izium, Russia’s defense ministry admitted it was withdrawing its forces from the region.
In an unexpected turn of events just days ago, Russian officials said troops would be moved from the Balakliia and Izium areas to help their operation in the Donbas, mirroring the Kremlin’s justification for withdrawing its forces from the region from Kyiv shortly after the start of the seven. -war of the month
Vitaly Ganchev, the head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kharkiv region, told state television that several villages had come under the control of Ukrainian forces and said his administration was trying to “evacuate” civilians from cities like Izium, where the British. officials described Russian forces as “increasingly isolated.”
A resident of Izium, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Guardian that Ukrainian troops had entered the town. Before that, “Russian occupation forces quickly withdrew, leaving ammunition and equipment behind.”
Ukrainian officials shared photos on Saturday showing troops raising the nation’s flag over Kupiansk, where rail lines linking Russia with eastern Ukraine meet and which, in recent months, has supplied Russian forces in the north eastern Ukraine.
“Kupiansk is Ukraine. Glory to the armed forces of Ukraine,” said Natalia Popova, adviser to the head of the Kharkiv regional council.
For weeks, Ukrainian officials had telegraphed plans for a planned counterattack in the southern Kherson region, but instead the main target of this week’s counterattack has been Kharkiv in the northeast, apparently taking everyone the Russians, by surprise.
Ukrainian special forces have said the much-publicized offensive in southern Ukraine was a disinformation campaign.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko spoke of the difference Western weapons were making on the battlefield: “Ukrainian troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine, liberating more cities and towns. Their courage together with Western military support delivers surprising results.
“It is crucial to continue sending weapons to Ukraine. Defeating Russia on the battlefield means winning peace in Ukraine.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday for a surprise visit and pledged to continue arms deliveries as well as humanitarian and financial support.
A Ukrainian official also said Kyiv’s troops were closing in on the eastern city of Lysychansk, captured by Russian troops after fierce artillery battles in July.
It comes as Western intelligence suggests Russian forces in Kherson are under sustained pressure from Ukrainian attacks. According to the Ukrainian military, Russia is sending 1,300 Chechen fighters to the southern Kherson region.
Russian news agencies reported six large explosions in Nova Kakhovka, a town controlled by Russian troops in the Kherson region.