KHARKIV: Ukraine claimed breakthroughs in the east on Saturday, including the entry of its forces into the key city of Kupyansk, with Moscow announcing for its part that it would withdraw troops from this area to “reinforce” the region further south pro-Russian separatist from Donetsk.
In the evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was delighted that “regarding 2,000 km of our territory” had been “liberated since the beginning of September” – without specifying whether it was km2 -, in particular the localities of Vassylenkovo and ‘Artemivka, not far from Kharkiv, in the northeast. Sunday morning, however, the staff of the Ukrainian forces specified in its daily press release that it was indeed 2,000 km2.
Thursday, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian forces had affirmed that those had reconquered 1.000 km2.
And the Russian army is making the “right choice to flee”, Mr. Zelensky added, because “there is no place for the occupiers in Ukraine and there will not be”.
“Russia is doing everything to break the resistance of Ukraine, Europe and the world during the 90 days of this winter”, counting on heating problems and a possible weakening of Western support for kyiv due to the rise energy prices in Europe, he further warned at the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) international forum in Kyiv. “That’s his ultimate argument.”
In the east, Ukrainian forces earlier announced that they had entered Kupyansk, which is on Russian army supply routes, marking a new stage in their recent lightning counter-offensive which allowed them to recover entire swaths of territory.
– «Koupiansk, c’est l’Ukraine» –
“Kupyansk is Ukraine,” wrote a regional official on social networks, posting a photo of Ukrainian soldiers in this city which had 27,000 inhabitants before the war. The special forces showed images of their officers “in Kupyansk, which was and always will be Ukrainian”.
This new advance of troops from kyiv south of Kharkiv might seriously hamper Russia’s ability to supply its forces in eastern Ukraine and provide them with effective logistical support.
The day before, Mr. Zelensky had announced that the Ukrainian army had taken over 30 localities in this border region of Russia.
On Saturday, AFP journalists saw charred Russian trucks and armored vehicles there, some of which were still stamped with the letter Z, the symbol of the invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24.
Ukrainian soldiers patrolled Balaklya, where the Ukrainian flag flew, hoisted in the presence of the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrsky.
“Today we complete the liberation of Balakliïa, the first major town of our offensive, and I am sure it will not be the last. […] And ahead once more, Izioum and many others,” he said on this occasion.
The head of the Russian occupation administration in the Izium region, Vladislav Sokolov, for his part admitted that the situation there was “difficult”.
“For the past two weeks, the city has been targeted by bombardments by Ukrainian forces, in particular with Himar-type ammunition […] which causes serious destruction and causes many deaths and injuries,” he said.
Himars are multiple rocket launchers supplied to kyiv by Washington.
– Russian regrouping –
The Russian Ministry of Defense then announced that it had “withdrawn” its forces present “in the regions of Balakliïa and Izium”, in order to “reinforce” its device further south, around Donetsk, one of the capitals of the separatists. prorussians.
In Lyman, a city that fell into Russian hands at the end of May, “the situation remains quite difficult, as in other localities in the north of the People’s Republic” of Donetsk, its leader, Denis Pushilin, acknowledged on Saturday.
“Our soldiers are advancing on the front lines in the south in several areas, from two to tens of kilometers”, further assured the spokesperson for the military command of southern Ukraine, Natalia Goumenyuk, without further details. .
In the northeast, near Kharkiv, Russian forces announced on Friday that they had sent reinforcements once morest kyiv’s successful counter-offensive.
In the village of Grakové, just taken over by Ukrainian forces, AFP journalists saw destruction testifying to the violence of the fighting, electricity pylons downed and cables spread on the ground.
“It was scary, there were shelling and explosions everywhere,” 61-year-old Anatoly Vasiliev told AFP.
– “Count on us” –
The bodies of two civilians, with traces of torture and bullet holes in the back of the head, were discovered there, announced Saturday the office of the attorney general who opened an investigation.
According to this source, following the recapture of Grakové, one of its inhabitants went to the police, claiming that Russian soldiers had forced him to bury these corpses.
On Saturday, the head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock arrived in kyiv for a surprise visit, her second since the start of the war.
“They can continue to rely on us. We will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary, with the delivery of weapons, with humanitarian and financial support,” she said.
Over the past few weeks, Germany has delivered howitzers, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. They are part of the military arsenal provided by the West which, according to experts, has contributed to undermining the capabilities of the Russian forces.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal however deplored on Saturday a “passive attitude” of the International Monetary Fund, worrying regarding “delays” in the IMF’s examination of his country’s request for assistance.
As for Spain, it accused on Saturday, through its Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, Russian President Vladimir Putin of using gas supplies as a weapon of “psychological terrorism” to scare Europeans and their governments.
